Dam Safety Series: Faults

Closeup of Bartlett Springs Fault from USGS

Hold PG&E At Fault Underlying issues threatening Scott Dam Scott Dam’s proximity to the Bartlett Springs Fault is a major safety concern. The Bartlett Springs fault was not identified by geologists as “a regionally significant seismic source” until the 1980s, nearly sixty years after Scott Dam was constructed.  Scott Dam is not only old, outdated, … Read more

Letter to California Public Utilities Commission Regarding PVP Equipment Failure

Wednesday, October 27, 2021 President Marybel Batjer California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 via electronic mail as feasible   RE: Potter Valley Project Equipment Failure Dear President Batjer, This letter is meant to apprise you of important developments regarding PG&E’s Potter Valley Project (Project). The Project is a hydroelectric … Read more

Dam Safety Series: Sediment

Restorative Vision for the Upper Eel River

A Much Bigger Problem – More ways poor design impacts dam safety at Scott Dam Decreased water storage, high temperatures, and evapotranspiration cause the sediment that has piled up in steep banks behind Scott Dam to dry out and slough off, threatening to irreparably clog the ‘needle valve’ which is the only way to release … Read more

Ask Governor Newsom to Hold PG&E Accountable

In response to preventable disasters like the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, Pacific Gas and Electric has insisted that they are committed to high safety standards. It’s now a decade, and several other disasters, later and the company has yet to prove that they are following through on their promise to “…remain forever committed to … Read more

Cape Horn Dam Fish Ladder is Inadequate

Cape Horn fish ladder clogged with gravel and debris after high flows.

Amidst the tumultuous relicensing, auction, bankruptcy, and withdrawal developments for the Eel River dams, attention has largely centered around the most problematic of the two – Scott Dam, which is structurally unsound and has zero fish passage. However, while there is a fish ladder at the Van Arsdale Fish Station at Cape Horn Dam, recent … Read more

Some Clarity At Last – PG&E Ends Dam Relicensing, Sale

We have great news for the Eel River and its fisheries. Days before entering bankruptcy, utility giant PG&E withdrew its application to relicense the Potter Valley Project and ended its attempt to sell the project, which includes two dams on the upper mainstem Eel River. Friends of the Eel River has been working for decades … Read more

Friends of the Eel River Welcomes PG&E’s Abandonment of Eel River Dams Relicensing Application

(Eureka) Friends of the Eel River welcomes today’s announcement by PG&E that the utility is withdrawing its formal notice of intent to seek relicensing of the Potter Valley Project (PVP) before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and ceasing its efforts to sell off the two dams and associated diversion works. The two dams and … Read more

BREAKING NEWS: Pacific Gas and Electric Withdraws “Notice of Intent to File License Application”

From Pacific Gas and Electric: NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE LICENSE APPLICATION AND PRE–APPLICATION DOCUMENT On April 6, 2017, pursuant to 18 C.F.R. §§ 5.5 and 5.6, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”), filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) notice of its intent to file an application for a … Read more