[SCE] TONIGHT! SCWC Tech Session: Eel Dams

[Rue]

Good morning,
Thanks to Charlie for his willingness to catch us up - we had agreed in January that we would need to stay abreast of this evolving (lurching) issue, and he kindly offered to join us again.  There will be several among us with insights into this process… David Keller has confirmed he’ll be with us as well.

 <http://enews.nl.pressdemocrat.com/q/Gw4H7Fl7E0T0XVdnAuGatCiyYmiz-LVbiIsZcOJcmVhbGx5cnVlQGdtYWlsLmNvbcOImJPRpMn0fZvLj6jjAqpweWJqa1Q>	
Fishery groups plan to sue PG&E over Potter Valley plant and related Scott, Cape Horn dams <http://enews.nl.pressdemocrat.com/q/vsqzWacYu4s0XSra_6D_NWLtTrMUXcKDdEcZcOJcmVhbGx5cnVlQGdtYWlsLmNvbcOICn2bCcykeaRL038up6QYCQQh0nw>Coalition says expired Potter Valley project license leaves utility exposed for harm to protected salmon and steelhead fish. READ MORE <http://enews.nl.pressdemocrat.com/q/wvnEGWHBMvZ0X2fdowUlsHXY8ovaaO8UzH6ZcOJcmVhbGx5cnVlQGdtYWlsLmNvbcOIBivdw7u0dIEL1ml96yto2OQQi2Q>


MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
	
Topic: 				SCWC Tech Session: Potter Valley/Eel River update
Date/Time: 			Apr 27, 2022 
					6:00 PM 

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Passcode: 			014066

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Meeting ID: 			835 2625 9678
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On today’s BoS Consent Calendar:

Russian River Watershed Water Resiliency Planning Project 		2022-0259 

A) Adopt a Resolution authorizing adjustments to the Board Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2021- 2022 for the Russian River Projects Fund in the amount of $1,650,172 for the Russian River Watershed Water Resiliency Planning Project (4/5th Vote Required) 

B) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to negotiate and execute three professional services agreements for 
	1) public outreach and organization services ($300,000), 
	2) facilities assessments and feasibility studies ($650,000), and 
	3) water supply reliability studies ($650,000) in a form approved by County Counsel. Agreement terms will expire on or before August 1, 2025. 

C) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to negotiate and execute a cooperative agreement with Mendocino Inland Water and Power Commission and/or Potter Valley Irrigation District in a form approved by County Counsel to reimburse Sonoma Water for costs not covered by grant funding for work on the Russian River Watershed Water Resiliency Planning Project that exclusively benefits the Potter Valley area (approximately $70,000). Agreement term will expire on or before August 1, 2025. 

D) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to negotiate and execute amendments to the above agreements, as required to complete work and maintain compliance with grant requirements. 

(4/5th Vote Required) 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve been thinking about the Potter Valley issue as I hear more from the region.  You (Charlie and/or David) available on the 27th?  (next Tech Session) 6:00 PM

I’ve been in a number of meetings where this keeps coming up - big changes/little response.  

And then there is the Farm Bureau's two day water meeting ….

Have a wonderful wet week,
Rue



On Apr 19, 2022, at 7:22 AM, Charlie Schneider wrote:

Probably time for a Potter Valley Project update at the next meeting, lots going on. 

https://kymkemp.com/2022/04/19/an-expired-license-a-mysterious-applicant-and-a-threat-to-sue-what-else-can-we-expect-as-the-fight-to-control-the-waters-of-the-eel-river-continues/ <https://kymkemp.com/2022/04/19/an-expired-license-a-mysterious-applicant-and-a-threat-to-sue-what-else-can-we-expect-as-the-fight-to-control-the-waters-of-the-eel-river-continues/>

An Expired License, a Mysterious Applicant, and a Threat to Sue: What Else Can We Expect as the Fight to Control the Waters of the Eel River Continues?
April 19, 2022 <https://kymkemp.com/2022/04/19/an-expired-license-a-mysterious-applicant-and-a-threat-to-sue-what-else-can-we-expect-as-the-fight-to-control-the-waters-of-the-eel-river-continues/> Sarah Reith <https://kymkemp.com/author/mskymkempgmail-com/> 2 comments <https://kymkemp.com/2022/04/19/an-expired-license-a-mysterious-applicant-and-a-threat-to-sue-what-else-can-we-expect-as-the-fight-to-control-the-waters-of-the-eel-river-continues/#comments>
 
A day after the license for the Potter Valley Project expired, a coalition of environmentalists and fishermen filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue PG&E under the Endangered Species Act, if the utility does not remedy the situation described by the coalition. 

The core claim is that the fishway at Cape Horn Dam in Potter Valley causes unauthorized harm to endangered fish, by preventing their passage when the facility is clogged, or making them vulnerable to predators as they try to climb the ladder.
And, if that isn’t drama enough, a man who might not exist filed an application for the license.

Redgie Collins, the Legal and Policy Director for CalTrout, one of the groups intending to sue PG&E, said that with the expiration of the license, PG&E no longer has “take” coverage of endangered species, “meaning that they can no longer harm, harass, directly  kill or injure salmon and steelhead at their project site…the current fish passage operation is functionally broken, and leads to take…it’s time for PG&E to admit and to realize that this project does in fact take fish,” he said at a press conference on Monday. Collins believes that a biological opinion by the National Marine Fisheries Service has now expired, along with the license, which makes the project vulnerable to litigation. CalTrout, an environmental advocacy group, was previously part of the coalition that was seeking to take over the license. 

PG&E, which still owns the project and is responsible for it, said in a statement that, “The potential claims described in the notice are without merit. PG&E is strongly committed to environmental responsibility, and we are operating the Potter Valley Project in full compliance with the National Marine Fisheries Services’ (NMFS) Biological Opinion (BiOp) and its incidental take statement, which is incorporated into the Potter Valley license.”

While environmental groups widely expect regulators to order PG&E to surrender the project and remove the dams, that order has not been issued yet. And PG&E expects to continue operating the project on a year-to-year basis.
The 20-year license to operate the project expired on April 14. PG&E did not apply for renewal. An alliance of local governments, environmentalists, and the Sonoma County Water Agency was unable to meet the requirements to take over the license, and announced that it, too, would not apply. A wild card applicant likely missed the deadline.

The Project consists of Lake Pillsbury behind Scott Dam in Lake County, and the Cape Horn Dam and van Arsdale reservoir on the Eel River in Potter Valley. A diversion tunnel channels water from the Eel River into the east branch of the Russian River and from there to Lake Mendocino. Last year, 25 cubic feet per second (cfs) came through the project. Twenty cfs was contract water for Potter Valley, and the other five made it to the lake.

That’s a far cry from the 250 cfs that was allowed under the license, provided the project could also generate power. While a powerhouse has historically generated about 9 megawatts of hydropower, the project is currently unable to generate electricity due to a damaged transformer <https://kymkemp.com/2022/02/04/catching-even-insiders-off-guard-pge-decides-to-return-the-potter-valley-project-which-diverts-water-from-the-eel-river-to-full-operational-status/>, which PG&E plans to replace at an unspecified cost, while operating the project on a year-to-year license. Company spokesman Paul Moreno estimated it would take about five years to recoup the cost of the equipment, which he said could take two years to build. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates the project because its primary stated purpose is generating power, has not yet announced if it will accept this plan, or insist that the utility start to decommission the project immediately.

PG&E claims that, “Upon expiration of a license, the Federal Power Act requires FERC to issue an annual license, which renews automatically, with the same terms and conditions for the project, until it’s relicensed, transferred or decommissioned. That means PG&E will continue to own and operate the Potter Valley Project safely under the existing license conditions until the project is transferred or FERC issues a final license surrender and decommissioning order.”

The organization that has been at the forefront of the fight to remove the entire project is Friends of the Eel River, an environmental group in Humboldt County. Executive Director Alicia Hamann describes the Eel as “a river of opportunity,” saying that the removal of Scott Dam would free up 280 miles of habitat for a genetically diverse population of fish that hasn’t made it to the ocean since the dam was built in 1922. Hamann said, “There’s still an opportunity for an ecologically appropriate diversion. By that, I mean one that operates without a dam, and runs during the wet season, when the Eel has water supplies to spare.” In November of last year, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife used cannabis taxes to fund a study <http://pottervalleyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Scott-Dam-and-Cape-Horn-Dam-Removal.pdf> exploring a variety of options for diverting water under various removal scenarios. “At this point, it’s really up to Russian River water users to decide how much they want to continue the diversion, and to come together to fund and implement a plan,” Hamann concluded.

But Russian River water users do not appear to be enthusiastic about that prospect. On the day the license expired, Janet Pauli, of the Potter Valley Irrigation District, told the Inland Water and Power Commission (a consortium of water districts, a water seller, the city of Ukiah and the County of Mendocino), that, according to initial surveys, “To get a two-thirds vote for a parcel tax would be tough. It might not be successful.” Pauli reported that the IWPC had hired a consultant, who did an estimated 400 polls reaching about 23,000 people. “The goal was to see if people had an understanding of their water supply, where it comes from, potential vulnerability with regard to the Potter Valley Project, how they felt water supply was being managed, or if they even knew,” she elaborated. The IWPC is now considering proposing a county-wide sales tax measure for the November ballot, “along the lines of a more general county-wide water infrastructure and resiliency funding request.”

It’s impossible to be unaware of water conditions in the Eel River basin, according to Adam Canter, the Director of Natural Resources for the Wiyot Tribe at the Table Mountain Bluff Reservation in Humboldt Bay. “It’s been really bad in the last five or ten years,” he said. “It’s hard to ignore, just the reduction in flows, the toxic algae blooms, the reduction in the number of fish returning to the river. It’s just more visible on the Eel River basin side.” The Wiyot are not a party to the 60-day notice issued to PG&E, but Canter is looking forward to a future without  dams, saying, “We’re excited that the license has expired…that doesn’t necessarily mean that we can celebrate and walk away and not have to continue to put pressure on PG&E and FERC to move forward with actual decommissioning and dam removal.”

The Wiyot name is taken from the river, which means “abundance” in the ancient language of the tribe. “The Wiyot, the Eel River, is the third-largest river fully within the state,” Canter said; “and used to have salmon runs in the tens of thousands, where now we’re lucky to have runs of a thousand or two.” The salmon and lamprey are profoundly significant elements of the Wiyot culture.

Glen Spain, the Northwest Regional Director of the Oregon-based Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources, also believes that dam removal is key to restoring the depleted salmon and the fisheries. Both organizations are parties to the notice of intent to sue PG&E under the Endangered Species Act. He said “weak stock restrictions,” designed to protect endangered salmon, often restrict access to all fish in the vicinity of the endangered fish, from Monterey to Klamath. “We have to make sure we avoid them at all costs,” he said. “The end result has been devastating…we’ve lost thousands of jobs. We’ve lost basically millions of dollars in revenue…we’ve sort of adapted to a horrific situation, but this dam removal gives us a chance to undo that damage.”

FERC has been Sphinx-like about what it will do next: whether or even if it will order a surrender and decommissioning process over how long a period; or if it will allow PG&E to continue operating the project for the better part of the next decade. Last week, a smaller mystery appeared in the inboxes of those who have been closely following FERC docket number 77, where Potter Valley Project matters come to rest.
A party named Antonio Manfredini, who appears not to exist in the typical way of people who leave traces on the internet, put in a last-minute application for the project, one day before the license expired. “We don’t think it affects anything at all,” said Brian Johnson, the California Director of Trout Unlimited, which is a party to the notice of intent to sue. “It’s more than two years late.” In 2019, FERC said applicants had until July of that year to file a notice of intent to start the application process. 

The business name on Manfredini’s application is PVP 77 LLC, an interest that does not seem to have a website and which turns up no results on an international business database. No one answered calls to the phone number listed on the application


-- Charlie Schneider
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