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The letter singles out one possible buyer for the project, Southern California\u2019s Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, which has previously shown interest in acquiring the complex despite being hundreds of miles away. Rollins, though, stopped short of providing details on how such an acquisition might go down, including how a small agency like Elsinore Valley would come up with the potentially hundreds of millions of dollars needed to purchase and maintain the hydroelectric project.<\/p>\n
Another unanswered question is how Elsinore Valley, which has said it\u2019s looking to boost water supplies, would get Eel River water. The watershed isn\u2019t linked to the State Water Project or any other aqueduct that could move supplies across the state.<\/p>\n
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Additionally, PG&E, which initially tried to sell the Potter Valley Project but had no takers, is already well into the process of surrendering its operating license and decommissioning the project. This makes a transfer logistically difficult at this point.<\/p>\n
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is overseeing the decommissioning process, released a \u201cscoping\u201d document in May that indicated support for the project\u2019s retirement. FERC said preserving Scott Dam, which impounds Lake Pillsbury and is the larger of the project\u2019s two dams, was not practical and no longer being considered an option.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the seismic stability concerns surrounding the structure, past efforts to find an\u00a0operator for the project, and PG&E\u2019s preferred alternative to remove the structure, staff\u00a0dismissed this alternative as infeasible,\u201d FERC wrote.<\/p>\n
Rep. Huffman, who opened the inquiry on the federal government\u2019s involvement in the project because of \u201cenvironmental, legal, economic and water supply concerns,\u201d told the Chronicle that Rollins didn\u2019t come close to fully answering his questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy strong suspicion is that this is just performance and feeding this narrative that is useful politically,\u201d he said. But \u201cI\u2019m going to make sure there isn’t a bigger play to try to control and manage water rights and infrastructure on the Eel River by these southern California interests. That\u2019s something in my part of the world you have to take seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The congressman had requested \u201call of the details\u201d of a potential project purchase and future operation, including underlying records and documents. Huffman said he\u2019d continue to seek answers from the federal government and Elsinore Valley water district. His April 28 inquiry also was directed at Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has not responded. The Interior Department has not publicly discussed the project.<\/p>\n
The Potter Valley Project was built in the early 1900s to provide power for a large swath of Northern California, but its real value proved to be the water. In generating electricity, the complex moves water from the Eel River to the Russian River, which communities and farms in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties have come to depend on.<\/p>\n
Beneficiaries include the region\u2019s sprawling vineyards as well as Sonoma County Water, which serves more than 600,000 people.<\/p>\n
Since the hydroelectric project\u2019s retirement would no longer necessitate the transfer of water from the Eel to the Russian River, a new agency has formed to continue at least a fraction of the water exports. The fledgling Eel-Russian Project Authority plans to build a pump system on the Eel River and deliver water through existing PG&E infrastructure to the Russian River basin. PG&E and FERC have backed the endeavor.<\/p>\n
The creation of the new authority has helped temper widespread concern about the project\u2019s demolition. Most water users, who stood to lose significant water supplies, as well as others supporting the dam removal, including those who wanted to untether the Russian River completely from the Eel, appear to have found mutual relief in the Eel-Russian Project Authority.<\/p>\n
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Many of these now-allied interests have questioned why the Trump administration is getting involved \u2014 and at such a late hour. Rep. Huffman and others have worried that the new push to continue operating the hydroelectric project could unravel the fragile agreement over the region\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis deal does good things for both (basins),\u201d said Charlie Schneider, a project manager at California Trout, which has advocated for dam removal and supported the establishment of the Eel-Russian Project Authority. \u201cOur group is staying the course until there is something real to react to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, some farmers and residents in the Russian River basin, fearing that they\u2019ll get less water and have to pay more for it, continue to oppose the decommissioning. Many in Lake County, meanwhile, don\u2019t want to see the dams taken down, particularly the larger Scott Dam because it would mean draining Lake Pillsbury, a popular recreation spot.<\/p>\n
A slew of groups has petitioned the Trump administration to help stop dam removal, and they\u2019ve welcomed the agriculture secretary\u2019s engagement.<\/p>\n
Even with hurdles to overcome, Rollins made it clear in her letter Friday that she was undeterred from trying to preserve the hydroelectric operation.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe administration will entertain the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and any other\u00a0legitimate party expressing interest in purchasing the Potter Valley Project and operating it\u00a0in a manner consistent with what agricultural producers and communities have relied upon\u00a0over the last century,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
In addition to protecting water supplies and energy production, Rollins said keeping Lake Pillsbury was critical for firefighting and safety. Also, she said PG&E ratepayers would benefit from the project\u2019s continued operation because they wouldn\u2019t have to underwrite the cost of dam removal, which has been estimated at more than $500 million. PG&E has maintained that making needed upgrades to the facility and continuing to operate it would cost far more.<\/p>\n
In her letter, Rollins continued the political jabs she\u2019d previously made on social media, accusing California\u2019s leaders of undermining farming in support of fish. While Gov. Gavin Newsom and others in Sacramento have supported PG&E\u2019s retirement of the Potter Valley Project, they\u2019re not directly involved. It\u2019s a privately owned facility regulated by the federal government.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, under the radical leadership of the state of California, the needs of fish have been prioritized over the needs of the farmers and ranchers who feed our nation and the rural communities and businesses that need water access to survive,\u201d she said. \u201cThe president’s administration is committed to good governance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Scott Dam at Lake Pillsbury, seen here in July 2025, is one of two dams on the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":837746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[15173,276,10109,746,162662,80,159,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-837745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-climate","tag-environment","tag-pge","tag-politics","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116677269587440878","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}