At the Potter Valley Water Project, owned and operated by PG&E, water is not wasted. It is waste. That’s because the two dams, the manmade lake, the reservoir, the tunnel and the Archimedes Screw, are all parts of a facility that produces between three and 8.4 megawatts of hydroelectric power. The water is just a … Read more
Water supplies for Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties this summer could hinge partly on the dwindling storage in a remote, drought-starved reservoir on the Eel River that serves as a cornerstone to the region’s water system. Water managers, fisheries biologists, environmentalists and PG&E have their eyes on Lake Pillsbury, a diminishing Lake County reservoir where … Read more
PG&E requested a temporary variance to reduce flows into the East Branch Russian River as they performed work on the Potter Valley Project. Sonoma County Water Agency requested, among other things, compensatory flows to “make up” for lost flows during this variance. Friends of the Eel River submitted comments that we agree with the need … Read more
By: Scott Greacen Originally published by Econews, February 2014 See detailed timeline of correspondence and media coverage. Utility cites risk of sediment collapse; drained reservoir may run dry. A few people in the Russian River watershed still have a greater claim to the Eel’s water than do the river’s own salmon. After draining its reservoir … Read more
By: Scott Greacen April 18, 2014 New Rules for Drying Times? Serial Variance Requests Reveal Vulnerability of Eel River Fisheries to Demands from Russian River Irrigators The Eel River’s surviving salmonids—chinook, coho, and steelhead—are struggling to come back from near-extinction. Good returns from 2010 to 13, particularly for chinook, felt like recovery might be getting … Read more
Sunday, February 2, 2014 Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, N.E. Washington, DC 20426 Re: Potter Valley Project (FERC No. 77) Temporary Urgent Request for Flow Variance Due to Limited Water Availability Dear Secretary Bose: Under the present extreme and extraordinary circumstances, Friends of the Eel River concurs that FERC … Read more
March 17 2009 Hon. Kimberly D. Bose Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, N.E. Washington, DC 20426 Re: Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project No. 77-212: Comments on Draft Environmental Assessment for Application of Amendment of License for Diversion of Water at Lake Pillsbury (Potter Valley Project) Dear Secretary Bose: Friends of the Eel River … Read more