LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Congressman John Garamendi, who represents the northern half of Lake County, on Friday submitted a formal comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission opposing the proposed removal of Scott Dam at Lake Pillsbury and demanding that Lake County have an equal seat at the table for determining the future of Potter Valley Project and the lake.

Garamendi, who served as the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior in President Bill Clinton’s administration, said the proposal to remove the dam was issued over the objections of Lake County residents as part of the Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s divestment of the Potter Valley Hydropower Project.

“Lake County residents who have owned homes and property around Lake Pillsbury reservoir for decades have been shut out of planning for the future of the Potter Valley Project,” said Garamendi (D-CA). “Let me be clear: any decision-making for the Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury Reservoir must include representatives from Lake County. Anything short of that is simply unacceptable.”

He said he strongly opposes draining Lake Pillsbury by removing the Scott Dam. “The planning process will not be adequate until every community impacted by this project has a voice in the process I expect FERC to give Lake County and Lake Pillsbury residents a full and equal seat at the table during this process. I stand ready with Lake County to create a version of the Potter Valley Project that works for every community involved, including cost-effective fish passage at Scott Dam.”

“We are extremely pleased that Congressman Garamendi is standing up for Lake County, Lake Pillsbury recreation and wildlife, and Lake Pillsbury homeowners,” said Carol Cinquini of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance.

Lake County denied a seat at the table

The Scott Dam is part of the hydroelectric Potter Valley Project, owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which in May 2018 announced its intention to put the project up for auction.

North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman led an ad hoc committee promoting what it’s called a “two-basin solution” that includes decommissioning and removing the dam.

Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, Sonoma County Water Agency, California Trout Inc., the county of Humboldt and Round Valley Indian Tribes, known as the “NOI Parties,” initiated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proceedings to make a licensing proposal for the Potter Valley Project.

Lake Pillsbury sits within northern Lake County. As such, the county of Lake sought to be a part of the group but was denied membership, and county officials – including Supervisor EJ Crandell, who represents the Lake Pillsbury area – said Lake County’s concerns have been ignored or entirely dismissed.

In his letter to FERC, Garamendi said Lake County formally requested to join the NOI Parties, only to be rejected. “Apparently, the ‘notice of intent’ parties’ standing rules require approval of all current members before another party may join. CalTrout – a nongovernmental organization that will likely have no official role in the future governance of the Potter Valley Project under the to-be established regional entity – voted to block Lake County from joining its peer county governments (Mendocino, Sonoma, and Humboldt) as a ‘notice of intent’ party. This is not acceptable.”

CalTrout, earlier in 2019, had issued a report listing the Scott Dam as one of the five top dams in California that needed to be removed to benefit fish and habitat.

This past May, the NOI Parties filed a feasibility study in which they seek to gain control of the Potter Valley Project from PG&E. The plan included removing the Scott Dam and destroying Lake Pillsbury.

If the plan is approved, Lake County would have no operational control over the Potter Valley Project, including the Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury reservoir. “This is just not right or acceptable,” said Garamendi.

“The Two Basin Partnership’s vision for a balanced future for people and wildlife who depend on the Eel and Russian rivers does so at the expense of those most directly affected by their proposal to remove Scott Dam,” said Cinquini. “Water supply reliability for downstream users has not been assured. The size and quality of Eel River habitat upstream of Scott Dam has not been ground-truthed. All fish mitigation enhancements need to be seriously considered before concluding that dam removal is the only path forward.”

On behalf of the county, Crandell has argued that there are many other ways to ensure fish passage, and provide environmental benefits to communities along the Russian and Eel Rivers and those that live near Lake Pillsbury, most at a fraction of the cost, but none of those options were considered.

The Lake Pillsbury Alliance, Crandell and the county, and now Garamendi, also have pointed out that Lake Pillsbury has for many years been a critical source of water for firefighting efforts.

“The Lake Pillsbury reservoir has been a feature of Lake County since 1922 and provides essential firefighting capacity for one of the most fire-prone regions in California,” Garamendi continued. “Cal Fire made extensive use of Lake Pillsbury reservoir for firefighting during the devastating Mendocino Complex fire in 2018, and again during this year’s fire season.”

This summer, firefighters also have drawn on the lake to fight the massive August Complex – which is the largest wildland fire in California history, at more than 1,030,000 acres – which resulted in evacuation orders for the Lake Pillsbury basin last month.

Crandell told Lake County News on Friday that he initially had filled Garamendi in on the situation when the congressman visited the Middle Creek Restoration project in October 2019. They spoke again briefly about it at his office in DC.

Then, on Sept. 16, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce set up a virtual meeting with Garamendi, Crandell said.

Crandell said he, Supervisor Bruno Sabatier and members of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance were invited to speak with the Garamendi about their struggles with the two-basin solution and share the history of Lake County’s interests not being taken seriously in regard to Scott Dam and most of Lake Pillsbury.

“Because of that meeting we were able to fill him in on the intricacies of this project,” Crandell said.

More study needed

In his letter to FERC, Garamendi said that a 2018 study prepared for the Sonoma County Water Agency – one of the parties now seeking to remove the Scott Dam – found that providing volitional fish passage both upstream and downstream of the Scott and Cape Horn dams would cost less than $64 million.

“By contrast, decommissioning the Scott Dam, removing or otherwise mitigating 12 million cubic yards of sediment stored within Lake Pillsbury reservoir, and other proposed project changes are estimated to cost upwards of $400 million, according to the parties’ feasibility study report,” Garamendi said, noting those “critical issues” are not addressed by the initial study report filed with FERC on Sept. 15.

Garamendi also referenced a Sept. 29 public meeting on the initial study report prepared by the parties, where he said it was summarily announced that the technical studies and future planning documents for the integrated relicensing process would no longer include an assessment of fish passage improvements at Scott Dam other than removal of the dam.

“How can FERC or the parties accurately assess the impact of the proposed removal of Scott Dam on federally protected fish species without considering those benefits, if any, relative to other potential fish passage improvements at the dam?” Garamendi asked.

In his letter, which can be seen below, he went on to point out inaccuracies in a FERC scoping document, and argued, “At a minimum, further independent study is needed to justify that the benefits of removing the Scott Dam outweigh the substantial costs, rather than just assuming this to be the case as the parties’ FERC filings do.”

He said he stands ready to help secure federal funding to improve fish passage at the Scott Dam and reservoir operations at Lake Pillsbury.

“I am truly grateful for Congressman Garamendi writing a letter for Lake County and the Lake Pillsbury residents,” Crandell said.

How to get involved

Members of the public can submit comments regarding the removal of Scott Dam and draining of Lake Pillsbury reservoir by:

1) Registering with FERC’s online public comment portal.

2) Once registered, check your email inbox. In the email from FERC, there will be a link to submit a public comment.

3) Enter docket number P-77-298 (not 285 as previously reported) and click “search.”

4) Click the blue + on the right side of the table to select the docket.

5) Submit your comments in the comment box.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

20201016 Garamendi to FERC Disagreement on Potter Valley Project ILP by LakeCoNews on Scribd