Dear Friend of the Eel River, Thank you for being part of the Eel River’s advocacy network. 2017 has been a year of big changes, growing threats, expanding opportunities, and amidst it all, steadfast advocacy for the Eel River, its fisheries, and its communities. We’re glad you are with us. Since 1994, Friends of the … Read more
Every thirty to fifty years, hydropower projects get relicensed. Everyone knows that hydroelectric power is clean power, dams are good for rivers and fish, and even old dams never suffer any serious failures. So we should keep them all! At least, that appears to be how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) thinks. The agency … Read more
Friends of the Eel River and our conservation group partners submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on their Scoping Document 1 for the relicensing of Potter Valley Project. You can read our full comments or any specific section below. Conservation group partners: American Whitewater, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Trout, Friends of the … Read more
Dear Friends, We stand poised on the brink of making huge changes for the Eel’s future. There has never been a more important time for you to engage. Please, act today.Help us help the Eel River. Send your comments asking for removal of the Eel River dams to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by August 4. See details below. And send Friends of the Eel River some help when you can. We depend … Read more
POTTER VALLEY, Mendocino County — This year’s historic gush of water through California’s rivers brings the dawning of a renaissance for lampreys, a peculiar fish that migrates upstream to spawn but without the fanfare of its salmon and steelhead compatriots. Climbing the river Ile, the corresponding named waterway. Ingredients for the drug Amoxicillin are mined … Read more
We need your help. The dams on the Eel River, known as the Potter Valley Project, have just begun the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) relicensing process. This is our opportunity to call for their decommissioning and removal. The dams are licensed as a hydroelectric project with the capacity to generate 9.4 megawatts, a measly … Read more
Pacific Gas and Electric, owners of the Eel River Dams known as the Potter Valley Project (PVP), filed their Notice of Intent and Pre-Application Documents with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This begins the relicensing process for the PVP, which consists of two dams, a mile-long diversion tunnel, and a small hydropower facility. The PAD … Read more
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
In the Mendocino National Forest, the Potter Valley Project is an audacious example of creative engineering. The project, which is owned by PG&E, stores winter runoff from the upper reaches of the Eel River and diverts the water into the Russian River, where it is used to support people, farming and wineries in Mendocino and … Read more
Click here to read our comments on Sonoma County Water Agency’s Fish Habitat Flows and Water Rights Project prepared by Shute, Mihaly, & Weinberger LLP. Learn more about the project here. A summary of our comments: I. The EIR fails to adequately describe the project II. The EIR fails to analyze or mitigate environmental impacts of … Read more