###

Press release from Rep. Jared Huffman:

Today, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (CA-02) released a statement praising Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) initial draft plan to remove two dams on the Eel River. The plan also sets the stage for negotiating a new diversion from the Eel to the Russian river.

“PG&E’s draft surrender application is a major step forward to achieving the Two-Basin Solution I’ve advocated for years. The plan includes full and expedited removal of two dams that harm salmon on the Eel River while allowing for a modern fish-friendly diversion to provide water to Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin counties. I’ll be working to ensure that both elements are completed in a way that best protects communities, tribes, and natural resources in the Eel and Russian river watersheds,” said Rep. Huffman.

Congressman Huffman has played an active role in this matter, having facilitated initial discussions to create a Two-Basin Solution for the project and establishing the Potter Valley Project Ad Hoc Committee in 2018 when they learned that PG&E was surrendering the license. The committee, made up of a wide range of tribes, stakeholders, agencies, local governments, and PG&E, formed the basis for negotiations surrounding dam removal and water supply in the two watersheds.

###

Press release from the Friends of the Eel and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations:

For well over a century, Eel River dams have blocked salmon access to hundreds of miles of cold water habitat in the Upper Eel River watershed, but not for much longer. Today PG&E unveiled their initial draft plan for removing two Eel River dams and surrendering the utility’s federal license for the 100 year old Potter Valley Project. One alternative would simply remove Scott and Cape Horn dams; the other, advanced by Sonoma Water, would move forward with a new diversion to the Russian River during the dam removal process.

“Either way you look at it, the Eel River Dams’ days are numbered,” remarked Friends of the Eel River Executive Director Alicia Hamann. “We prefer the most straightforward and quickest path to dam removal possible – the fish can’t afford any delays.”

The Eel River was once a prolific salmon producing stream with upwards of a million fish returning annually to spawn and provide an abundant food source for Native American Tribes. Later, after the early 1900’s in-river canneries closed, the Eel supported a carefully managed ocean commercial fishing economy “These dams helped put a lot of commercial fishermen out of work,” notes fisherwoman Vivian Helliwell. “If we bring back the salmon, we can bring back the local food-producing jobs.”

The Eel River dams are part of the Potter Valley Project (PVP) which diverts Eel River Water through a tunnel to the adjacent Russian River Watershed. However, the PVP no longer generates power, or profit, for PG &E. The power plant is in disrepair as is Scott Dam and its reservoir, which cannot be filled due to seismic risks, and thus offers little benefit even to water users.

Eel River advocates are excited about PG&E’s plans to remove the dams, but they have concerns regarding the alternatives put forth by Sonoma Water et al.. While Sonoma’s draft Plan accepts the removal of Scott Dam and Cape Horn Dam, it also vaguely describes the creation of a new governmental entity that would build new diversion infrastructure to maintain an out-of-basin diversion. Sonoma’s plan leaves some of the most difficult questions unanswered, such as who will pay how much for diverted Eel River water.

And a number of groups, including the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), question whether the historical water diversions from one river (the Eel) to an entirely different river (the Russian) should continue to exist, especially if that water is needed for Eel River salmon and steelhead recovery. “All the downstream water users on the Eel River have been deprived of “beneficial use” of the diverted water for 100 years, including “Tribal beneficial use,” recreation, domestic, municipal, ranching and farming, and fish and wildlife that rely on plentiful cold water, instead of warm water from the reservoir that promotes predatory pike minnow and toxic algae,” PCFFA’s Helliwell stated. Sonoma Water has had plenty of time to put forth a plan to maintain the diversion. “Sonoma Water’s Plan looks like a last-ditch effort to delay dam removal while they try to find political support for subsidizing the wine industry. While we will listen to any creative solutions to meet the region’s water needs, we will oppose anything that adversely impacts Eel River fisheries or delays dam removal,” said Hamann.

Members of the public interested in supporting the most beneficial option for Eel River fish can submit comments to PG&E by December 22. Visit eelriver.org to learn more.

###

NOTE: This post originally stated in its headline that PG&E intended to remove the dams in 2028. However, Paul Moreno, a spokesperson for the utility, later clarified, “The only timeline is that our application is due to FERC [in] January 2025. PG&E believes the earliest we would see FERC issue an order [for dam removal] would be 2028. This does not mean construction would occur in 2028, nor is there any regulatory requirement for FERC to act in a specific time.”