Eel River – Enviro Updates

Trump administration ups ante in quest to thwart removal of PG&E’s Eel River dams

June 16, 2026

Austin Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet on Monday intensified her ongoing campaign to thwart PG&E’s plans to eventually tear down a pair of century-old Eel River dams.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced in a social media post that she and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had met earlier in the day with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. CEO Patti Poppe, along with representatives from the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District “to begin constructive negotiations on the future of the Potter Valley Project.”

The administration’s “hope is clear,” she stated: to “keep the Scott and Cape Horn Dams in place and working for the communities they serve.”

That goal stands in direct opposition to PG&E’s long-held plan to decommission the century-old dams, part of Potter Valley hydroelectric project that no longer made financial sense, the utility concluded in 2019.

Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, Potter Valley Project, Russian River, salmon, salmon habitat

June 23 & 24: FERC scoping sessions for Eel River dam removal

June 13, 2026

Sierra Club Redwood Chapter

There has been an important step forward in Dam Removal on the Eel River, and your voice is needed now!

Two Public Scoping Sessions will take place at the Ukiah Conference Center on June 23 and 24th, and are an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the surrender and decommissioning of the Eel River Dams.

WHEN:
Tuesday, June 23 @ 6:30pm
Wednesday, June 24 @ 10am

WHERE:
Ukiah Valley Conference Center, Chenin Blanc Room
200 South School Street, Ukiah

What is FERC?
What’s a Scoping Hearing?
Do public comments make a difference?

Water, Wildlifedam removal, Eel River, endangered species, Potter Valley Project, salmon, salmon habitat

Trump administration doubles down on effort to stop California dam removal

June 1, 2026

Kurtis Alexander, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The Trump administration has offered one of its most detailed explanations of why it wants to stop dam removal on Northern California’s Eel River, citing in a letter numerous concerns that include water, power, wildfire safety and even the state’s “radical leadership.” Still, big questions remain.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent the three-page letter Friday in response to a congressional inquiry about her agency’s sudden interest in a pair of relatively obscure PG&E-owned dams. The inquiry was opened in April by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.

The dams, in Lake and Mendocino counties, are part of the Potter Valley hydroelectric project, which Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is seeking to retire because of its age and expense. Many support the project’s dismantling as a way to restore the Eel River — which would become the longest free-flowing river in California — and boost its struggling salmon runs. Last summer, however, Rollins unexpectedly took to social media to criticize the project’s retirement, suggesting the federal government might intervene to thwart it.

Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, Potter Valley Project, salmon, water diversion

Federal regulators signal support for PG&E’s bid to decommission Eel River dams

May 26, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The federal agency responsible for approving Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s bid to decommission two Eel River dams and a downstream hydroelectric powerplant has signaled its support for the utility’s plans, despite last-ditch efforts by those who oppose the teardown to keep the waterworks in Lake and Mendocino counties intact.

In a May 22 scoping document that provides an overview of proposed actions and potential resource issues, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission noted it “proposed to eliminate … alternatives” to full decommissioning, including a proposed takeover of the dams either by the federal government or other public agency.

Federal takeover of two PG&E dams and shuttered powerplant, known as the Potter Valley Project, would require congressional approval. FERC said “there is currently no evidence” showing that such a takeover should be recommended to Congress. Additionally, no federal agency has expressed interest in operating the project, FERC said.

Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, PG&E, Potter Valley Project, salmon, water diversion

Trump administration offers plan to stop dam removal on California river

April 21, 2026

Kurtis Alexander, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The Trump administration injected a surprising twist into the fight over Northern California’s Eel River on Tuesday, offering up a potential plan to stop the removal of two dams in the basin — though how serious the plan is remains to be seen.

In a social media post, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said she had been in touch with a Southern California water agency that was interested in buying the Scott Dam in Lake County and Cape Horn Dam in Mendocino County and continuing their operation.

Such a move would run counter to longtime plans by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the owner of the dams, to remove the facilities as part of the retirement of the century-old Potter Valley hydroelectric project.

WaterEel River, endangered species, PG&E, Potter Valley Project, Russian River

Riverside water district interested in taking over Potter Valley Project

April 21, 2026

LOST COAST OUTPOST

Statements From PG&E and Friends of the Eel on SoCal Agency’s Potter Valley Dam Bid

This morning, Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, tweeted that a potential buyer has expressed interest in taking over the two dams near the headwaters of the Eel River, in Mendocino and Lake Counties.

That buyer is the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, which serves around 160,000 residential and commercial users in western Riverside County.

It’s not yet clear how serious the district is, or why it wants to assume water and power operations far from the customers it serves, but in her tweet Rollins celebrated the fact that a buyer could potentially disrupt PG&E’s efforts to abandon the dam system, which hasn’t produced power in many years and has been massively inefficient for many more.

WaterEel River, endangered species, Potter Valley Project, Russian River

Round Valley Indian Tribes respond to Trump administration’s attempt to thwart Eel River dam removal

January 31, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

James Russ and Joseph Parker, the former and current presidents of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, are seeking to make their reservation healthy again.

That means helping their people, they say, and specifically tackling high rates of diabetes and obesity that affect their tribal nation and many other Indigenous communities.

It also means restoring their land and the river that has been intrinsically linked with their people for millennia.

“We are Native people tied to the resources and rhythms of the Eel River,” Parker said. “Our health is connected to the river.”

Now, the tribal nation is confronting the Trump administration over the river’s future and fighting some of its regional allies to reclaim water rights that have been overlooked for a century.

Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, Potter Valley Project, Russian River, salmon, salmon habitat, Scott Dam, water diversion