Russian River – Enviro Updates

Court rules Sonoma County must study impact of water wells on fish, Russian River

August 6, 2026

Bob Egelko, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Tuesday’s ruling said Sonoma County had not properly considered the effects of new rules it issued for increased pumping from the Russian River.

In a challenge by environmental groups to the pumping of groundwater from rivers to fill wells for farmers, homes and businesses in Sonoma County, a state appeals court says counties must consider the impact of their water wells on fish and the environment.

Tuesday’s ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Sonoma County had not properly considered the effects of new rules it issued in 2023 for increased pumping from the Russian River and other waterways, but might be able to meet legal standards with an environmental review.

On the central legal issue in the case, however, the court rejected the county’s argument that such reviews of water wells are required only for the state, and not for local governments.

“Sonoma’s regulation of well permits carries with it an ‘affirmative duty to take the public trust into account,’” Justice Tara Desautels wrote in the 3-0 ruling, quoting language from another appellate decision.

Water, WildlifeCalifornia Coastkeeper Alliance, endangered species, groundwater, Russian River, Russian Riverkeeper, salmon, well monitoring, well ordinance, wells

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

Sonoma Water awarded nearly $48 million to upgrade lower Russian River wastewater system

May 19, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A long-awaited overhaul of the lower Russian River’s aging wastewater system is on deck after Sonoma Water was awarded a $47.8 million grant from the state.

The money, funded through California’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund program, will support the Russian River Sanitation District’s efforts to rehabilitate the system’s 34 miles of sewer lines and four miles of mains, serving 3,300 parcels between Rio Nido to Vacation Beach in Guerneville.

“I can’t promise anything, but I think we’re going to see a significant benefit and improvements to the overall functionality of the system,” Carlos Diaz, deputy director in engineering design with Sonoma Water said.

The award is the largest ever for Sonoma Water, the parent agency that first applied for the grant in 2019. It has seen repeated spills on its watch linked to the Neeley Road plant. The latest, and largest in more than 40 years, came in January, when an estimated 5.5 million gallons of wastewater, including untreated sewage, overflowed from the treatment plant into the lower Russian River for more than three days.

WaterRussian River, Sonoma Water, wastewater, wastewater treatment

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

‘End of an era:’ Russian River watchdog stepping back

April 8, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The record heat that last month barreled into the final days of winter in California ushered in the sounds of summer along the lower Russian River. Beachgoers laughed and splashed as kayakers and paddleboarders paraded between the banks, all of them beckoned to the water weeks earlier than most years.

Still, the soundtrack was music to Brenda Adelman’s ears.

The 86-year-old activist has for more than half her life fought to clean and protect the Russian River, serving as a chief watchdog and champion for the 1,500-square mile watershed.

At the outset of her work in the early 1980s, the lower river was still used by Santa Rosa as the primary way to dispose of its wastewater. That is no longer the case in large part due to unrelenting pressure from Adelman and allies at that time, whose broader legacy over the ensuing decades would include greater public recognition and regulatory care given to the river — a lifeblood for residents, visitors and farms alike, and a sensitive refuge for wildlife.

The Russian River Watershed Protection Committee, the nonprofit Adelman launched and led through that era, made its mission in holding local and state government accountable for the river’s health and restoration.

Waterendangered species, Russian River, Russian River estuary, Russian River Watershed Protection Committee, wastewater overflow, water pollution, water quality

Logging plan for Jenner forestland riles coastal community

March 23, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

For several generations, the Berry family has logged the forest on their sprawling coastal property near the mouth of the Russian River to feed a sawmill they continue to operate a few miles upstream.

But the family’s latest plan for 1,099 acres of forest they own overlooking the river near its outlet at Jenner has riled this small community, raising concerns about the long-term impacts on drinking water and imperiled salmon runs that have yet to recover from a century of destructive commercial logging.

Bruce Berry, proprietor of Berry’s Mill and Lumberyard in Cazadero, is seeking state approval to thin his family’s forestland, which borders the river’s north bank, with the protected Jenner Headlands Preserve to the west.

The proposal has sparked concerns among some local residents and with environmentalists, who have waged a larger fight in recent decades over the scope of modern commercial logging on the coast. Stretching back to the Gold Rush-era, the region was razed for its redwoods and fir trees, producing lumber that helped build San Francisco — and rebuild it after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Forestscoho salmon, Douglas fir, redwoods, Russian River, salmon habitat, Sheephouse Creek