A new agreement promises to resolve decades of conflict over water use on California’s third largest watershed––and a legendary salmon and steelhead river
California’s mighty Eel River once produced so many salmon and steelhead that it sustained a commercial canning operation. But for over a century, conflicts over water use have plagued the basin. The Eel River’s salmon and steelhead runs have paid a steep price and are today a fraction of their former glory.
This week, after years of negotiations, a stakeholder group comprised of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Russian River water interests, salmon and steelhead advocates and the State of California announced a new agreement in principle that clears the way for fish recovery and sustainable water sharing in the wake of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s decision to decommission and remove its Potter Valley Project.
This project’s two dams completely blocked fish passage to the Eel River’s headwaters for more than a century and diverted water through a tunnel to the Russian River. In dry years such as 1977, the dams took virtually the entire flow during summer.
An agreement for all
Today’s agreement outlines a shared solution that addresses the interests of all. It allows for Russian River water users to construct a new, dam-free pump station that will allow continued diversion to the Russian at greatly reduced rates, subject to scientifically derived limits to protect the Eel River fishery.
Those users will make annual payments to the Round Valley Indian Tribes, which will hold the underlying water rights and will use part of the revenue to implement watershed-wide habitat restoration in the Eel basin, in coordination with non-profit conservation organizations including TU. All the parties will cooperate to raise additional federal, state and private funds to pay in equal measure for constructing the diversion and watershed restoration.
The water sales will generate $1 million per year for the Round Valley Indian Tribes, in recognition of its senior water right, plus $750,000-$1 million per year for Eel River restoration, both indexed to inflation.
Today, the State of California announced that it will commit an initial $18 million to support the agreement––$9 million for the pump station and $9 million for Eel River restoration.
TU plays pivotal role
Trout Unlimited played a key role in the negotiations. Today’s agreement in principle is memorialized in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by TU, the Round Valley Indian Tribes, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sonoma Water, Mendocino Inland Water and Power Commission, Humboldt County, and California Trout. The parties will work over the next several months to finalize it into a binding Water Diversion Agreement.
“This is a good deal for the Eel River as well as the Russian River and the people who depend on both,” explains Brian Johnson, TU’s senior policy advisor for western water and climate. “The agreement includes science-based, enforceable terms to provide crucial flows for the Eel’s salmon and steelhead populations. Under the agreement, all water rights will be held by the Round Valley Indian Tribes, water sales will fund restoration of the Eel River and water not meant for diversion will remain in the Eel. On behalf of Trout Unlimited, and all the partners who worked to build this comprehensive plan, we thank the State of California for their commitment to the Eel River, its salmon and steelhead and the communities who depend on its cold, clean water.”
Johnson and Matt Clifford, TU’s California director, were closely involved in the long and difficult negotiations that led to the new agreement.
Clifford said, “This agreement and PG&E’s commitment to decommissioning the Potter Valley Project represent our best opportunity to restore the Eel River and the native fish populations that have sustained the region’s tribes, California’s commercial fishing fleets and a legendary sport fishery. The Eel is one of TU’s Priority Waters, and we have worked for years to reconnect this watershed and find sustainable solutions for the tribes and communities that depend on this river. We’re proud to be working alongside our tribal, state, community and conservation partners to build this path forward together.”
The path forward for the Eel
PG&E’s Potter Valley Project consists of the Cape Horn Dam and the Scott Dam, a water diversion tunnel and a power plant in the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. Completed in 1922, the project was designed to produce hydroelectricity and to move water from the Eel to farms and communities in the Russian River watershed.
The dams blocked salmon, steelhead, lamprey and other native fish from 288 miles of high-quality spawning and rearing habitat, and trans-basin water withdrawals would often leave flows too low for salmonids in the summer, especially in drought years.
Recovery plans for salmon and steelhead along California’s North Coast prioritize restoration of habitat and connectivity in the Eel as vital for rebuilding their populations in this region. In particular, the Eel’s headwaters are considered some of the best remaining intact habitat for Summer Steelhead in the southernmost part of their range.
The Potter Valley Project has been functionally and financially obsolete for some years. The power station has not generated power for the past five years, and PG&E declined to apply to renew the operating license when it expired in 2022. Studies of risks to the Project from seismic activity suggested a far more significant threat of structural failure than previously thought. PG&E initially offered to sell the project but was unable to do so.
Late in 2023, the company released a draft plan for decommissioning the project and removing the dams. This is clearly the best possible outcome for the Eel’s native fishes, but it created more urgency in the effort to answer questions around how best to support water users while protecting and restoring the river’s function.
Fundamentally, the agreement lays out a plan built around construction of a new pump station and a transfer of water rights to the Round Valley Indian Tribes, a legal acknowledgment of their original stewardship of the Eel River and its native fish and water since time immemorial.
The agreement lays out rigorous criteria around water transfers to ensure the Eel maintains flows needed to recover salmon and steelhead populations and sets parameters for ongoing monitoring, management and enforcement of diversions.
PG&E’s water rights associated with the Potter Valley Project will be transferred to the Round Valley Indian Tribes. For the next thirty years, some of the Eel’s water will continue to be transferred to the Russian River Basin. The agreement can be extended after that if its metrics for success are met.
Annual payments will be made to the Round Valley Indian Tribes for the portion of their water diverted to the Russian River Basin. Some of these funds will be dedicated to ongoing habitat restoration work throughout the basin and will be governed jointly by an organization established by the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Humboldt County, TU, California Trout, and others. Other stakeholders, such as the Wiyot Tribe, have the option to join this restoration organization in the future.
Finally, all the groups involved in the negotiations agreed to support fundraising to build the new pump station that will replace the existing impoundment and diversion at the Potter Valley Project.
To learn more about TU’s history of advocacy for the Eel River, go here. You can learn more about TU’s 26 years of restoration work in the Eel River watershed here.