As many of you are likely now familiar, PG&E is unable to meet the flow schedule for the Potter Valley Project as outlined in their amended license from 2004. This flow schedule is unobtainable in most years due to a variety of factors including strategies employed to reduce dam safety risk, and changes in climate … Read more
PG&E announced on Friday, May 31 late last week that it will request a 7-month extension from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in decommissioning the Eel River dams. Stakeholders were expecting the utility to file its Draft Surrender Application plan with FERC this month, with a final version due in January 2025. PG&E now … Read more
Friends of the Eel River has long been pursuing more clarity from PG&E on dam safety at the Potter Valley Project. The utility company has long made the choice to classify dam safety and emergency planning documents related to the project as “Critical Energy Infrastructure Information” or CEII, thus concealing critical details about stability and … Read more
Tune into this clip from Episode 8 of “Unmanageable with Alicia Bales” to hear Friends of the Eel River Conservation Director Scott Greacen break down dam removal at the Potter Valley Project and what a diversion means in the eyes of California water law. This show aired live on April 7, 2024. To listen … Read more
The Potter Valley Project, which blocks access to pristine, cold water spawning habitat for Eel River salmonids, is no longer a functioning hydroelectric project. PG&E has announced plans to remove both Scott and Cape Horn dams as soon as possible. Until Scott Dam is removed, management of the Potter Valley Project must focus primarily on … Read more
PG&E PLANS TO REMOVE EEL RIVER DAMS IN 2028 Draft Surrender and Decommissioning Plan Offers Two Paths to Freeing the Eel – Soon to be California’s Longest Free-Flowing River Eureka, CA – For well over a century, Eel River dams have blocked salmon access to hundreds of miles of cold water habitat in the Upper … Read more
On Sept. 12, storm Daniel overwhelmed two neglected dams in Libya. The flood washed away entire neighborhoods in the coastal city of Derna, killing thousands. Experts warned just last year that lack of maintenance risked failure of the dams, built in the 1970s to allow the development they destroyed. But storm Daniel brought more rain … Read more
PG&E TELLS FERC “SEISMIC RISK OF EEL RIVER DAMS GREATER THAN PREVIOUSLY UNDERSTOOD” -FERC Approves Changes to Dam Operations to Mitigate Earthquake Risks -Four Months After Request, Approval Comes Too Late to Stop Fish Kill Washington, DC – Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted a request for a Temporary Variance to the flow requirements … Read more
One way to address the harms of the dams is to preserve a pool of cold water in the Lake Pillsbury Reservoir. The goal is to ensure that flow releases downstream from the dams remain cool enough to support the juvenile steelhead who spend a year or more in freshwater before migrating to the ocean. … Read more
Sonoma’s Eel River Diversion Plan Risks Extinction of Humboldt Fisheries Plan Would Delay PG&E Removal of Eel River Dams Eureka, CA – Yesterday, a group led by Sonoma Water proposed a new plan to maintain diversion of Eel River Water to the Russian. Humboldt County fishermen, Tribes, and conservation groups were blindsided by the proposal. … Read more