Contractor Hired to Study Dam Removal at the Potter Valley Project

Scott dam

Scott Dam, part of the Potter Valley Power Project in the upper mainstream Eel River  [photo from Sonomafb.org]

The following is a press release from Potter Valley Project Planning Agreement Partners:

 

Stillwater Sciences will study options for relicensing or removing dams, protecting native fish and protecting water supplies for users in both Eel and Russian River Basins

 

Sonoma County – The Potter Valley Project Planning Agreement Partners, known collectively as the Two-Basin Partnership, announced today they have selected a contractor to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate long-term options and a potential licensing proposal for the Project. Stillwater Sciences will conduct the study with the goal of pointing to a pragmatic way forward for the Project that meets the needs of water users that depend on Eel River water as well as fish and habitat in both the Eel and Russian River basins.

 

Factors in the selection of a contractor to conduct the study included the firm’s experience with the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) relicensing process, familiarity with the Eel and Russian River systems, and experience facilitating a complex comparative analysis of options and tradeoffs. Of the three firms that were interviewed to conduct the study, Stillwater Sciences was the unanimous choice among the five Planning Agreement Partner entities.

 

At stake are the health of native salmon and steelhead populations in the Eel River, many of which are endangered or threatened; the robust agricultural economy of the Russian River Basin; and the domestic water supply and water quality for communities in Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino and Sonoma Counties.

 

“I am committed to finding a realistic, sustainable solution that provides water to the people who rely on this project year-round,” said Janet Pauli, Chair of the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, one member of the Two-Basin Partnership. “It’s a long-term, complex process, but the Partnership is committed to working together toward our shared objectives. The feasibility study is going to help us evaluate our options.”

 

The Partners anticipate the feasibility study will identify and evaluate various potential structures for a Regional Entity that will apply for and assume a new license, if one is issued; options for potential modifications to the Project; ongoing operations and maintenance requirements; a fisheries restoration plan; and a financial plan that specifies funding and revenue to support long-term water diversions and ongoing facilities operations.

 

“The feasibility study will allow us to move this project forward in an informed way where science drives our decision-making,” said California Trout Executive Director Curtis Knight. “Stillwater Sciences has the experience and qualifications to provide the partners with the critical information we need to identify a realistic and sustainable solution for all of the parties involved.”

 

Background

The Potter Valley Project, currently licensed and operated by PG&E, consists of two dams and reservoirs, a hydroelectric facility, and a diversion tunnel that pulls water from the Eel River into the Russian River northeast of Ukiah. Though it no longer generates significant amounts of power, the Project continues to provide water for agriculture, industry and residential use in the Potter Valley and further south in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin Counties. The Project’s dams block or inhibit passage for once-abundant native Eel River fish such as salmon and steelhead. These fish support the health of the entire Eel River watershed and serve as vital cultural resources for the Wiyot and Round Valley Indian Tribes.

 

Water from the headwaters of the Eel River is impounded by Scott Dam, which forms Lake Pillsbury, and the Cape Horn Diversion Dam. A significant amount of Eel River water is diverted south through a tunnel into the Russian River and is stored in Lake Mendocino. Salmon and steelhead are now completely blocked from their spawning grounds upstream of Scott Dam.

 

The Potter Valley Project is due for relicensing by the FERC in 2022. Earlier this year, current dam owner PG&E withdrew its relicensing application, citing the high cost of maintaining the Project. Meanwhile, Congressman Jared Huffman formed an ad hoc committee that included a wide representation of stakeholders from both river basins to pursue a solution that would serve the watershed and the fish as well as the diverse set of human needs for water, a healthy fishery, and recreation.

 

With relicensing by PG&E no longer an option, three public entities joined a local tribal nation and a non-profit conservation organization to form the Two-Basin Partnership to evaluate future options for the Project. The Partnership is committed to the concept of a “two-basin solution” that was identified through Rep. Huffman’s ad hoc committee.

 

Partners include the non-profit group California Trout, the Round Valley Indian Tribes, the County of Humboldt, Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission and Sonoma Water.

 

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18 Comments
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Restore
Guest
Restore
4 years ago

Pretty simple, tare it down and restore its original path. Don’t mess with mother nature or if creates these kinds of problems

Rob Tall
Guest
Rob Tall
4 years ago
Reply to  Restore

Unfortunately, if you take global warming into account, Scott dam may be the only solution to keep eel river waters at an acceptable temperature to support a viable ecosystem. In addition, as temperatures warm, the tributaries about Scott dam will become useless to spawning steelhead and salmon. The research is in. If you think we haven’t already made an impact:

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29072019/pacific-salmon-climate-change-threat-endangered-columbia-river-california-idaho-oregon-study

https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/salmon-and-a-warming-river

https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/alaskas-salmon-dying-in-warm-rivers

Keep Scott dam until a solution to global warming is found so we can keep health Steelhead and Salmon populations.

Doggo the commie
Guest
Doggo the commie
4 years ago

Tear down that damn dam

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
4 years ago

Split the difference. Only take 1/2 of it down. Pick a side, left or right.

DivideByZero
Guest
DivideByZero
4 years ago

Oh yeah, tear down that dam. After all we wouldn’t want this environmentally clean energy source polluting the narrative, now would we? We’d rather bulldoze access roads and build bird killers so we can charge our cell phones and check our likes on Facebook.

Mr. Bear
Guest
Mr. Bear
4 years ago
Reply to  DivideByZero

you realize it produces almost no electricity?

The entire project has the output of just 2 of the proposed bird killers

Guest
Guest
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Mr. Bear

Hmm Since those things cost 20-40 million each, not having two would be a savings without considering installation. Probably the dam could generate more if updated.

The article is about studying relicensing too.

Will we let the wealth of the southerners decide this?
Guest
Will we let the wealth of the southerners decide this?
4 years ago
Reply to  Guest

“The Partnership is committed to the concept of a “two-basin solution” that was identified through Rep. Huffman’s ad hoc committee.”

Well at least they state their bias. How can they be committed to a “two-basin solution” BEFORE Stillwater does their work? Stillwaters work needs to be subject to the peer review process.

Huffman is a traitor to the people of Humboldt county. I will vote for ANYONE else in the future.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
4 years ago
Reply to  Mr. Bear

9.2 MW is a bit more than “almost no electricity “. Even though the terragen project is rated at 155 MW that is at 100% output. I wouldn’t be suprised if the annual output between the two were very similar.

hmm
Guest
hmm
4 years ago
Reply to  DivideByZero

Environmentally clean? Hydro power is extremely destructive to the environment. Are yo aware of things called rivers or fish? Besides the function is almost entire to facilitate southerners stealing our water.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
4 years ago
Reply to  hmm

Broad strokes paint poor pictures. Some hydroelectric facilities have been built without considering longterm environmental consequences and should be redesigned (or decommissioned ) to modern day engineering standards. Hydroelectric is the cleanest and most consistent electricity producing facility humans have yet to design.

Humans have been redirecting and storing water since the first bladder was used as a water carrying vessel.

Guest
Guest
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  Ullr Rover

After wind turbines have reached their maximum colossal size, there will probably some side effect that is devastating to that too. Hmm… Maybe an invasive fungus or insect that multiplies out of control in the wind shadow. Or the birds that no longer live there because of the noise or the bats unable to cope with the disruption to their sonar hunting. There’s always something that someone will take issue.

Ullr Rover
Guest
Ullr Rover
4 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I knew a wildlife biologist who worked for a wind turbine company doing avian fatality counts. Even though the job payed pretty well, she said the bird death count was so high she was sickened by the task and took a lower paying job with the USFS.

Gabriel Foltz
Guest
Gabriel Foltz
4 years ago
Reply to  Ullr Rover

Nuclear energy is actually by far the cleanest and safest energy source besides thermal energy which can only be used in suitable locations.

The Hermit of Grizzly Mountain
Guest
The Hermit of Grizzly Mountain
4 years ago

Finally we can dream of an end to this Russian collusion and Make the Eel Great Again!

Muddy Black Dodge
Guest
Muddy Black Dodge
4 years ago

Dam the Stillwater Co is going to make some big money… Please excuse my obvious pun. Lol …

Dave
Guest
Dave
4 years ago

Removing the Dam would be extremely expensive and the that Dam is what saves the eel river and all of the fish and eel’s and any other beneficiary (humans, birds, deer, etc.) from drying up and dying every summer. Too bad the “Tare down the dam people” don’t want to deal with facts!

You love money more than life
Guest
You love money more than life
4 years ago
Reply to  Dave

lol no, all of the fish and other wildlife that evolved in the watershed are adapted to natural water levels. They didn’t need a damn to keep the river from going dry for millennia, they dont now.

Since the dawn of the industrial revolution we have put economy over ecology at nearly every turn, it’s time to reverse that. We cannot afford to worry about the cost.