Scott Dam, with Lake Pillsbury behind it. | Photo: Isabella Vanderheiden.

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Two public comment sessions on a plan to decommission a hydroelectric project on the upper Eel River will be held in Eureka next week, and dam removal activists plan on filling the meetings.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency tasked with regulating dams, wants input ahead of an environmental review process and is hosting the sessions strictly to collect public input.

Advocates for dam removal are planning a rally ahead of the meeting Tuesday. They are working to pack the process with commenters and build local support for undamming the Eel.

“We hope that FERC hears loud and clear that dam removal is in the broad public interest,” said Alicia Hamann, executive director of Friends of the Eel River, an organization formed to undam the Eel River.

“But importantly, we also hope that participating in the rally and commenting really gives community members a feeling of ownership over this project, and that they feel that they have an important role to play in progressing dam removal,” she said when speaking to the Outpost today.

Advocates at the rally plan on touting the ecological importance of dam removal, offer perspectives from members of multiple tribes along the Eel and build dialogue around the process — which is notoriously complex and has attracted significant controversy in communities south.

FERC is looking to hear what environmental issues should be analyzed under a National Environmental Policy Act document. This follows PG&E submitting an application to surrender the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project in late 2025. FERC is now in the scoping process, as part of its review of this application.

Next week’s hearings are the first time FERC has hosted an in-person hearing on the Eel River dams in Eureka. As for the specific process the agency wants input on, Hamann said it looks pretty good so far.

“The scoping document that FERC published is, I think, quite complete. They have done a really good job of outlining all the different issues that they’re going to be looking at,” she said.

From FOER’s perspective, fish health through the process is essential, with water quality being a key concern. Roughly 12 million cubic yards of sediment would be released from the reservoir during the proposed dam removal process.

Comments from people in Humboldt County, she thinks, will particularly help make dam removal smoother in the face of interventions by the Trump Administration.

Last year, the administration filed a motion to intervene in the process, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has touted a last-minute buyer that proposed to keep infrastructure of the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project in place.

Previously, Humboldt County Supervisors signed off on the initial plan to remove the dams and continue some water diversions from the hydroelectric project, referred to as the Two-Basin-Solution.

Hamann said, at the very earliest, dam removal could begin 2028, but expects it to be delayed.

Before that, PG&E and FERC have work to do, including extensive planning by PG&E and regulatory processes with the state and federal governments. In the meantime, advocates want to express support for removal and educate locals about the process.

Nikcole Whipple, water justice coordinator for Communities United for Water Protection, said advocates are tracking public comments sent to FERC. They’ve found pro-removal comments are exceeding comments in opposition by about 100.

She said holding a hearing in Humboldt County is essential because it hosts the estuary of the Eel, a roughly 200 mile long river that runs through multiple counties.

“It’s not about just Potter Valley and Sonoma and the Russian River. It’s about our watershed that has been harmed for over a century,” she said.

Initially, these in-person sessions were hosted in Ukiah with the possibility of submitting written comment. The comment period was later extended to September 18 at 2pm and Eureka sessions were added.

The Round Valley Indian Tribes, which would receive PG&E’s water rights under the proposed Two-Basin Solution, has a Treaty of Friendship with the Yurok Tribe to work together on dam removal.

Whipple said learning about what worked — and what didn’t — in the removal of the dams on the Klamath River is informing advocates.

“Hopefully, we can succeed in being the quickest dam removal so far, and hopefully the next will just continue to keep being rapid fire – tear em’ all down! Tear ‘em down and heal our waterways,” she said.

The rally is planned for 5 p.m. September 15 outside the Wharfinger in Eureka.

Here is FERC’s scoping meeting schedule:

Evening Scoping Session:

DATE: Tuesday, September 15, 2026 

TIME: 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. Pacific Time (PT) 

PLACE: Wharfinger Building

ADDRESS:  1 Marina Way, Eureka, CA

Daytime Scoping Session 

DATE: Wednesday, September 16, 2026

TIME: 9 a.m.- 11 a.m. (PT) 

PLACE: Wharfinger Building

ADDRESS:  1 Marina Way, Eureka, CA