My Word: PG&E Should Stay the Course on Eel River Dam Removal, Times-Standard By Alicia Hamann, Executive Director of Friends of the Eel River For over 120 years, Russian River water users have enjoyed a boost to their water supplies at the expense of the Eel River. PG&E’s Potter Valley Project uses two dams and … Read more
One way to address the harms of the dams is to preserve a pool of cold water in the Lake Pillsbury Reservoir. The goal is to ensure that flow releases downstream from the dams remain cool enough to support the juvenile steelhead who spend a year or more in freshwater before migrating to the ocean. … Read more
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 Electric, owners of the two Eel River dams … Read more
Sonoma’s Eel River Diversion Plan Risks Extinction of Humboldt Fisheries Plan Would Delay PG&E Removal of Eel River Dams Eureka, CA – Yesterday, a group led by Sonoma Water proposed a new plan to maintain diversion of Eel River Water to the Russian. Humboldt County fishermen, Tribes, and conservation groups were blindsided by the proposal. … Read more
Background You may remember from the announcement last fall, or have read in the news, that PG&E has requested authorization from both the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to transfer all of their non-nuclear generation assets to a newly formed subsidiary called Pacific Generation. Several of the hydropower … Read more
Dear Friends, For the last several years, I’ve been optimistically sharing that if everything fell perfectly into place, the Eel River Dams could be out of the river by 2030. We’ve just learned that my optimistic timeline may turn out to be realistic. People like you who keep our bills paid deserve huge credit. Please … Read more
Fishing and Conservation Groups Sue PG&E over Harms to Salmon and Steelhead on Eel River Groups take legal action to reduce lethal impacts on imperiled fish from utility’s operation of outdated hydroelectric Potter Valley Project dams San Francisco — A coalition of five commercial fishing and conservation groups have filed suit in federal court charging … Read more
We are grateful that the Eel River has been selected by American Rivers as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers®! The list features ten rivers at a crossroads with real opportunity in the coming year to address serious threats. In the Eel River, two dams owned by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) block access to … Read more
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 seismic stability and dam safety. Dam removal advocates at … Read more
PG&E Admits Scott Dam Faces Serious Seismic Risks In a March 16, 2023 press release, PG&E has admitted that Scott Dam faces previously unacknowledged risks from seismic activity. Those risks are so great that the utility has announced that it will never again raise the gates atop Scott Dam, reducing the capacity of the Lake … Read more