The re-licensing process for the Eel River dams has begun. PG&E filed their “Notice of Intent / Pre-Application Document” today with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Now begins the long process of reading all 800+ pages and submitting study proposals by the end of the year. Click here for PG&E’s Notice of Intent and Pre-Application … Read more
DeSabla >> Operating the hydroelectric plants on Butte Creek just isn’t worth it to PG&E anymore, and that’s a potential threat to a rare strain of salmon. The electric company is going to withdraw its application for a license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission later this month, said PG&E corporate relations representative Paul Moreno. … Read more
Federal authorities have granted temporary flow reductions aimed at keeping more water in Lake Pillsbury, a small but crucial reservoir high in the Mendocino National Forest that supplies water to the Eel River, Lake Mendocino, the Russian River and the people, farmers and fish dependent on them. The move is aimed at ensuring healthier river … Read more
Federal approval of a drought-related request to reduce flows from Lake Pillsbury could come Friday or early next week, relieving concerns shared by PG&E, North Bay water managers and ranchers in Potter Valley. If the remote reservoir on the Eel River in Lake County falls too low this summer, it could trigger a dramatic cutback … Read more
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
By: Scott Greacen Originally published by Econews, June 2014 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 underway. Unfortunately, … Read more
In the third-largest watershed in California, the Eel River rambles through some of the state’s most stunning landscape. Nothing about the river, with its clusters of redwoods along its sandy banks, hints at the looming battle over its blue-green water. In about three years, though, a federal commission will begin reviewing an application by Pacific Gas … 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
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, owners of the Pottery Valley Project have requested and been granted permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reduce flows to the main stem Eel River at Cape Horn Dam, from Lake Pillsbury at Scott Dam, and into the East Branch of the Russian River. This is a … Read more