Eel River Resources
California Data Exchange Center
A data set of flows and reservoir storage levels from gauges on the Eel River.
The California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) installs, maintains, and operates an extensive hydrologic data collection network.
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
Visit DFW’s website for access to educational resources, to learn about local fishing regulations, to discover resources on habitat conservation and much more!
California Salmon Snapshots
The Nature Conservancy’s extensive website for California Salmon.
The Nature Conservancy’s California Salmon Snapshots is a collaborative information-sharing effort, critical to the on-going recovery of the state’s salmon species. For the first time ever, population data from the California Department of Fish & Wildlife and others — are compiled to show the number of salmon in our coastal California watersheds.
California Water Atlas
An interactive map of water rights held in California.
A water right is a granted permission to withdraw water from a river, stream, or groundwater source for a “reasonable” and “beneficial” use.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines as well as licensing hydropower projects.
Eel River Forum
The Eel River Forum, facilitated by CalTrout, is a coalition of public agencies, Indian tribes, conservation partners, and other stakeholders with interest in, or responsibility for the environmental stewardship of the Eel River.
Humboldt Fish
This website provides information on fishing regulations, charters, guides, where to eat seafood, fishing reports, and much more!
National Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA Fisheries is responsible for the stewardship of the nation’s ocean resources and their habitat.
Native Lands Map
The Native Lands Map is produced by Canadian non-profit Native Lands Digital. They strive to map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see history and the present day. We hope to strengthen the spiritual bonds that people have with the land, its people, and its meaning.
Streamer
Department of the Interior’s Interactive Stream Map.
Streamer is a new way to visualize and understand water flow across America. With Streamer you can explore our Nation’s major streams by tracing upstream to their source or downstream to where they empty. In addition to making maps, Streamer creates reports about your stream traces and the places they pass through.
United States Geological Survey: National Water Information System
The link below directs to a data set for stage and stream flow of seven sites on the Eel River.
The USGS investigates the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface and underground waters and disseminates the data to the public, State and local governments, public and private utilities, and other Federal agencies involved with managing our water resources.
River Network’s latest version of the Clean Water Act Owner’s Manual
The Manual is a transformational tool that has galvanized local groups, grassroots advocates, and diverse stakeholders to protect their local waters for over two decades. It provides a real roadmap for how the Act works and how people can apply it and make it work in their communities for cleaner water and healthy communities and is now updated to reflect changes to the Act, and highlights its intersections with environmental justice, climate change, and other longstanding challenges.
Eco News Report
The EcoNews Report is a weekly radio show and podcast hosted by Friends of the Eel River, the Environmental Protection Information Center, Humboldt Waterkeeper, and the Northcoast Environmental Center. Tune in to KHUM (104.7 or 104.3) Saturdays at 10am, or click below to subscribe to the podcast.
Dangerous Dams in Our Backyard
On this week's episode of the EcoNews Report we reflect on the tragic dam failure in Libya last month and discuss why Scott Dam on the Eel River poses similar risks. The PG&E owned dam sits right on a significant fault line, the Bartlett Spring Fault. Between its...
Sonoma Proposal for Eel River Dams and Why Humboldt Should Be Wary
On this week's episode of the EcoNews Report our host Tom Wheeler is joined by Alicia Hamann and Craig Tucker from Friends of the Eel River to discuss a vague, last-minute proposal from water users to take over part of the Potter Valley Project. Pacific Gas and...
Flow Enhancement Projects on the South Fork Eel
How do you improve the flow of a river? Just ask our friends at Salmonid Restoration Federation. On this week’s episode of the EcoNews Report host Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River is joined by Dana Stolzman and Katrina Nystrom from Salmonid Restoration...
What’s That Fence In the River?
This week on the EcoNews Report hosts Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River and Tom Wheeler from EPIC discuss an experimental installation in the South Fork of the Eel River. Guests Marisa McGrew from the Wiyot Tribe's Natural Resources Department and Gabe...
Scott Dam and its Shaky Seismic Stability
Tune into the EcoNews Report for big news about Eel River dam removal – PG&E is finally taking dam safety seriously! On March 16 the company announced big changes to how they will manage Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury reservoir, based on an updated evaluation of...
Congressman Jared Huffman Returns to the Show to Spill All the DC Tea
We don't know why he continues to join the show—doesn't he realize he's palling around with a bunch of treehugging dirt worshipers?—but Congressman Jared Huffman joins the EcoNews again for more discussion on what's going on in Washington D.C. Who does he want to...
Big Gov’t Isn’t Coming to Steal Your Gas Stove (But Maybe It Should)
For a weird, brief moment, prominent conservatives pitched a collective freak out over the false notion that the Biden Administration was coming to steal gas stoves. ("You can have my stove when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!") While bad-faith scaremongering in...
Climate Change Supercharging Winter Storms
Global warming increases the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, supercharging winter storms like the slate of atmospheric rivers that have smashed the West Coast. More moisture also means increased risk of flooding, as we have tragically experienced this year. More...
California’s Third Shakiest Earthquake
Humboldt’s Queen of Quakes, Dr. Lori Dengler professor emeritus of geology at CalPoly Humboldt, joins Gang Green to break down the recent 6.4 magnitude rumbler. It wasn’t just you: that was a big one! It was the third most “shaky” recorded earthquake in California’s...
You can see Friends of the Eel River staff in these full-length films:
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
These are a selection of studies related to Friends of the Eel River’s work protecting the Eel River and its fisheries.
Physical and Biological Constraints on the Capacity for Life-History Expression of Anadromous Salmonids: An Eel River, California, Case Study
December 4, 2021
This paper from the National Marine Fisheries Service confirms previous research and traditional ecological knowledge that the upper Eel River behind Scott Dam includes some of the best salmon and steelhead habitats in the entire watershed. To quote the paper, “the blocked Upper Mainstem generally contains a higher proportion of suitable habitat for all freshwater salmonid life stages than much of the rest of the Eel River Basin.”
Salmonid Habitat and Population Capacity Estimates for Steelhead Trout and Chinook Salmon Upstream of Scott Dam in the Eel River, California
April 22, 2020
This research by masters student Emily Cooper from Humboldt State University estimated salmonid habitat capacity upstream from Scott Dam. The study concluded that removing Scott Dam will make available an additional 463 km (287 miles) of steelhead spawning habitat.
Miller Pacific Dam Safety Study
September 6, 2018
This study, prepared by Miller Pacific Engineering Group is a summary of slope stability analyses for the landslide adjacent to Scott Dam’s left/southern abatement.
The study concludes that the large landscape complex that is adjacent to the left abutment is a geologic hazard to the dam that needs to be investigated further and ultimately recommends that PG&E have a more detailed analysis conducted on the landslide’s potential effects on the dam, including soil pressure and seismic displacements.
Feasibility Evaluation for Replacing Potter Valley Hydropower with Solar Energy
February 2017
This study was conducted by John Rosenblum, PhD. He concluded that replacing the hydropower facility with 3 acres of solar panels would increase energy generation.
Dr. Rosenblum also noted that hydropower is extremely variable, and that output is often at zero in winter when solar output would also be low. Given that the Potter Valley Project is operated to divert water out of the watershed, energy generation is highest in the summer (when irrigation needs are highest) and could easily be replaced by solar PV.
Blockwater Investigation
August 5, 2016
This study was conducted by Dr. Alison O’Dowd and Dr. William Trush, co-directors of Cal Poly Humboldt’s River Institute.
O’Dowd and Trush compared flow conditions impaired with dams with flow conditions that were unimpaired in the Mainstem Eel River to figure out how the flows could be managed to optimize the habitat of juvenile salmonids during the spring hydrographic recession limb.
Click here to read the report.
The Eel River Action Plan
May 2016
This report was prepared for the Eel River Forum by the Eel River Forum members and consists of information regarding salmonids and recommended actions for the recovery of salmonids.
The report also provides summary descriptions of issues the Eel River Forum has identified as primary factors impairing salmonid recovery and the Eel River’s ecological health.
Long-Term Streamflow and Precipitation Trends in the Eel River Basin
2015
This study was conducted by Eli Asarian of Riverbend Sciences on behalf of Friends of the Eel River.
This study analyzes long-term trends in streamflow, precipitation, and precipitation-adjusted streamflow in the Eel River Basin.
Impacts of Surface Water Diversions for Marijuana Cultivation on Aquatic Habitat in Four Northwestern California Watersheds
March 18, 2015
This study was prepared by CDFW and evaluates the environmental impacts of water diversions for cannabis cultivation. It indicates that water demand for the cultivation has the potential to divert significant portions of streamflow and that decreased streamflow is likely to have lethal effects on salmon and steelhead trout species that have state and federal listings as well as a negative impact on vulnerable amphibian species.
Letter from Southwick Associates Fish and Wildlife Economics and Statistics
August 9, 2012
This summary prepared for the Golden Gate Salmon Association estimates the value of a restored commercial and recreational salmon fishery in California.
Pacific Lamprey in the Eel River Basin: A Summary of Current Information and Identification of Research Needs
September 2010
This summary was prepared for the Wiyot Tribe by Stillwater Sciences and provides current information regarding Pacific Lamprey as well as research needs related to the species.
Historical Review of Eel River Anadromous Salmonids, with Emphasis on Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon and Steelhead
February 1, 2010
This report was commissioned by California Trout and written by Ronald M. Yoshiyama and Peter B. Moyle at the University of California Davis Center for Watershed Sciences.
The authors conclude that Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead in the Eel River Basin are advancing toward extinction. The report includes recovery recommendations which include watershed-wide restoration programs, evaluation of the Potter Valley Project, pikeminnow population control, special protections for summer steelhead, and more.
Salmon, Steelhead, and Trout in California
2008
This report from the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis describes California salmon, steelhead, and trout species. It includes essential steps to recovering California’s salmonids including implementing ecologically sustainable flows, reducing the migratory barriers to adults and juveniles, restoring watersheds, reducing human impacts on the landscape, and reducing competition from non-native salmonids.
Economic Benefits to Mendocino & Lake Counties from Removing the Dams on the Eel River
Fall 2004
This report was prepared by the Center for Environmental Economic Development (CEED) on behalf of Friends of the Eel River. It outlines potential benefits to Mendocino and Lake Counties that could result from Eel River dam removal.
The report concludes that the removal of the Potter Valley Project would benefit the Eel River fish, the fisheries, and both Lake and Mendocino Counties economies by creating jobs in deconstruction and increasing nature tourism.
A River in the Balance
Summer 2002
This report was prepared by the Center for Environmental Economic Development (CEED) on behalf of Friends of the Eel River.
The report’s conclusion states that there is no longer any economic need for the Potter Valley Project and emphasizes the need for restoring the Eel River’s natural flows and reducing human environmental impact.
Click here to read the Executive Summary.
Click here to read the entire report.
Contact Us
Membership forms and other printed material may be mailed to:
Friends of the Eel River
PO Box 4945
Arcata, CA 95518
Email: foer(at)eelriver.org
Phone: (707) 798-6345
Please complete the form below and someone will respond to you shortly.