Coalition to take major step in acquiring Potter Valley project from PG&E

May 12, 2020

A partnership of numerous Northern California agencies intends to file an initial plan on Wednesday to acquire the Potter Valley project from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., multiple sources confirmed.

The coalition will submit a document — no more than 12 pages long — to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its consideration. If approved, the group may be able to form a partnered ownership of complex water infrastructure dividing the Eel and Russian rivers.

The system diverts water to thousands of Potter Valley residents, but experts say the project — including the Scott Dam — threatens salmon populations in the Eel River. PG&E has controlled the project for decades, but will relinquish the system as part of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

Officials confirmed that the coalition will file its plan on Wednesday but declined to immediately reveal more details of the proposal.

“This group of folks came up with these goals of advancing fisheries restoration while maintaining water supply reliability,” said Craig Tucker, a natural resources policy consultant.

Together, the “two-basin solution” partnership will look to preserve fish species in the rivers while making sure enough water continues to be diverted to Potter Valley residents.

The public will receive 45 days to submit comments on the plan before FERC makes its decision. If the body determines that the plan is infeasible, PG&E will decommission the Potter Valley project, which would leave the infrastructure with no clear oversight.

Rep. Jared Huffman, who facilitated initial discussions to create a “two-basin solution” for the project, said Tuesday that an outright decommissioning would create “all kinds of uncertainties.”

“You may have some in the environmental community that would think this is a great outcome — it would seem a clean path to dam removal,” Huffman said. “But there are questions of how long it would take. Some other entity could buy the dam and operate it privately. There are myriad possibilities.”

Humboldt County is one of the partners in the coalition, which also includes water agencies from Sonoma and Mendocino counties, as well as environmental groups like Cal Trout.

Estelle Fennell, the county’s 2nd District supervisor, said the partnership has worked well so far but noted that its conceptual plan is just the first step.

“There’s still tremendous work that has to be put into it,” Fennell said Tuesday. “A lot more studies need to be done on the ecological aspects of the project as well as the economic elements of it.”


By:  Shomik Mukherjee
Source: Eureka Times-Standard