Friends of the Eel River and our conservation group partners submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on their Scoping Document 1 for the relicensing of Potter Valley Project. You can read our full comments or any specific section below.
Conservation group partners: American Whitewater, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Trout, Friends of the Eel River, Friends of the River, Native Fish Society, and Trout Unlimited and the Redwood Empire Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
Comments on Scoping Document 1
II. Draft EIR Must Adequately Describe and Consider the Environmental Setting
Describing the project area, species and levels of vulnerability, Russian River context.
III. The EIS Must Include a Larger Geographic Scope of Project Review
Request that the EIS expand the geographic scope of the project to the pacific ocean.
IV. The EIS Must Undertake an Adequate Evaluation of the Project’s Impacts Over the Expected Life of the Project
In which we discuss issues likely to increase with the life of the project (50 years) including dam safety and climate change.
V. The DEIS Must Analyze an Adequate Range of Alternatives to the Project, Including a Decommissioning Alternative
In which we list FERC’s conditions for including a project decommissioning alternative and point out that many of those conditions exist in this project.
VI. FERC Should Coordinate a Joint NEPA/CEQA Analysis with the State Board