Grant Funding for Habitat Improvement Projects Approved by Humboldt County Supervisors

On July 11 the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors authorized $543,000 in grant funding to 12 applicants for sediment-reduction projects in key salmon habitats. The Board also decided to, at a future meeting, allocate remaining funds to public works to complete additional high priority sediment reduction projects. This allocation is the final round for the … Read more

Cannabis Mitigation Grant Program Applications Due Oct. 31

Back in August the Humboldt County Supervisors finally approved the Cannabis Mitigation Grant Program that resulted from our 2019 legal settlement. This grant program designates funding from cannabis fines and penalties to be spent on sediment reduction projects on public and private roads serving cannabis operations in priority watersheds. After some initial spending by public … 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

Humboldt County Board of Supervisors approves Cannabis Mitigation and Remediation Program

Cannabis growing in Humboldt County

For immediate release Tuesday, August 17, 2021 For more information: Alicia Hamann, Executive Director, alicia(at)eelriver.org Grant Funds Now Available through Humboldt County Cannabis Mitigation Program Friends of the Eel River (FOER) are pleased the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors has approved the Cannabis Mitigation and Remediation Grant Program. This program to fund sediment reduction projects … Read more

Friends of the Eel River, Humboldt County Agree to Road Fixes to Protect Fisheries and Restore Watersheds

(Eureka, CA) Friends of the Eel River and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors have reached a legal settlement to fund culvert replacements and road repairs in two Southern Humboldt watersheds critical to salmon and steelhead through 2023. The agreement ends a lawsuit brought by Friends of the Eel River. The environmental group has argued … Read more

With Dam Gone, California River Comes Back to Life

Tommy Williams—a fisheries biologist whose enthusiasm bubbles forth so swiftly, he’s often interrupting himself mid-sentence—is pacing on the banks of the Carmel River.  “Amazing,” he says, snapping pictures of newly formed sandbanks and twigs wedged in between white alder, black cottonwood and willow trunks. It’s not the trees or twigs that delight him. It’s the thundering flow … Read more

Mendocino County property owner fined $37,000 for water reservoir breach

Escaping water from a bladder used to store water for fire protection has fouled nearby land and run into the Upper Main Eel River in Mendocino County. As a result, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board reports it has fined the property owners where the bladder was kept more than $37,000. Penalty for … Read more

Planning and implementing small dam removals: lessons learned from dam removals across the eastern United States

  Abstract: We review and build on a growing literature assessing small dam removal outcomes to inform future dam removal planning. Small dams that have exceeded their expected duration of operation and are no longer being maintained are at risk of breach. The past two decades have seen a number of small dam removals, though … Read more

State Water Board Comments on Sproul Creek Inspection

Article published on February 19, 2015 by Willits News By: Adrian Baumann Read online at Willits Nets Plans for the multi-agency task force, including the California Water Board and Department of Fish and Wildlife, aiming to regulate marijuana growing in the state continue to evolve. The task force conducted January inspections of marijuana grows on … Read more