Russian River – Enviro Updates

SuzanneJune 28, 2025July 1, 2025Water, WildlifeEel River, endangered species, Lake Pillsbury, PG&E, Russian River, salmon, Scott Dam, water diversion

A to-be-drained lake, a PG&E plan, and the promise and peril of California’s next big dam removal

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

LAKE PILLSBURY — A cool May breeze lapped across the surface of this reservoir in remote Lake County, where a couple made their way out in a boat across otherwise serene waters, taking advantage of the brightest bit of afternoon sun.

This man-made retreat, four square miles of water impounded by a dam across the upper Eel River, feels durable. It’s filled with hungry trout and black bullhead, prey for the sharp-eyed bald eagles, egrets and herons that hunt these waters.

To many of its visitors, and the several hundred people who live along its 31-mile shoreline deep within the sprawling Mendocino National Forest, Lake Pillsbury is the region’s heartbeat.

But Scott Dam, at the foot of Lake Pillsbury, and another, smaller dam on the river 12 miles downstream, have also become a headache for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which owns both dams.

And that’s creating a controversy that’s drawn interest from everyone from those who live on Lake Pillsbury, to North Bay communities whose water supplies are linked to both dams, to federal agencies now under control of President Donald Trump.

SuzanneJune 23, 2025June 23, 2025WaterEel River, PG&E, Potter Valley diversion, Round Valley Indian Tribe, Russian River, salmon, salmon habitat

Op-Ed: A two-basin deal is the only solution

Joe Parker, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The Two-Basin Solution shares water resources and restores fisheries, benefiting the Eel and Russian rivers.

Our ancestors have hunted, gathered and fished in the upper Eel River watershed for millennia. They lived in harmony with the river and its surrounding ecosystem, intuitively understanding the intertwined nature of the cycles of the river and the cycles of life itself. Their knowledge of the river has been handed down over time, each successive generation adding to that knowledge and passing on to the next the sacred obligation to protect and preserve the river.

No other sovereign has this connection to the upper Eel watershed. This has been, and will always be, our river. We are the Round Valley Indian Tribes.

In the early 20th century, without our consent, the Potter Valley Project dammed our river and started diverting significant portions to generate electricity, after which the water was made available, at no cost, to users in the Russian River watershed. All the while, our community endured the loss of a critical part of our economy and culture: the decimated Eel River salmon fishery.

These impacts are not limited to a degraded fishery and economic hardship, but also significantly severed our spiritual and cultural connection to the river, leading to a diminished quality of life for members of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, while Eel River water flowed free of charge to benefit Russian River users. Quite simply, the Potter Valley Project dams and the water supply they generated have benefited others while we have paid the costs. This can no longer stand.

SuzanneMay 15, 2025Wateremergency warning, flood warning, flooding, NOAA, Russian River

Staffing cuts to National Weather Service river forecast center could leave Sonoma, Napa counties ‘flying blind’ ahead of storms

Austin Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The short-staffed California Nevada River Forecast Center, a small Sacramento field office of the National Weather Service, has outsized importance to North Bay residents. Its operations are imperiled by downsizing and proposed cuts.

The closer you live to the Russian River, the likelier it is you’ve spent time on this no-frills website, whose wavy, colored lines alert users when the river is approaching flood levels, and when it will recede.

The site is maintained by the California Nevada River Forecast Center, or CNRFC, under the umbrella of the National Weather Service. It’s one of 13 forecast centers preparing “timely river and flood forecasts” for some 4,000 river locations across the nation.

The California Nevada forecast center is a small field office, based in Sacramento. But its work has outsized importance to North Bay residents.

The data it collects during heavy rains helps emergency service officials figure out who needs to be evacuated as the region’s largest rivers rise, none packing a more destructive, dangerous punch than the Russian.

The CNRFC also provides information vital to Sonoma Water, the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies, as they make decisions on when to release water from reservoirs, and how much.

But now, in the face of cuts and attrition engineered by the Trump administration, that office is operating with a little over two-thirds of its usual workforce. Under Trump, staff shortages have become endemic in offices throughout the National Weather Service.

SuzanneFebruary 12, 2025February 17, 2025Habitats, Water, WildlifeEel River, Lake Mendocino, PG&E, Potter Valley diversion, Russian River, salmon, salmon habitat, Scott Dam, water flows, watersheds

Historic pact reached on future Eel River water flows into Russian River

Mary Callahan, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A historic agreement has been reached to manage water flow from the Eel River to the Russian River.
The deal establishes limits on diversions, focusing on fish protection.
Water rights are transferred to the Round Valley Tribes, supporting river restoration efforts.

Officials from three counties and the Round Valley Indian Tribes have reached a historic agreement that paves the way for continued diversions from the Eel River to bolster flows in the Russian River.

The agreement represents a critical development for anyone whose water comes from the Russian River.

The complex accord resulted from years of negotiations to preserve supplemental flows in the Russian River, the water lifeline for residents, ranchers and wildlife in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. The agreement also supports the restoration and fish recovery in the Eel River, which was crucial to securing support from environmental interests, tribes and Humboldt County residents.

It is, at last, the “two-basin solution” envisioned by regional stakeholders in 2019 and even earlier, when Pacific Gas & Electric first raised questions about whether to continue operating the small, aging hydroelectric plant in Potter Valley through which Eel River flows have been redirected.

The utility is now on track to decommission the plant, tear down Scott Dam, which impounds Lake Pillsbury in Lake County, and Cape Horn Dam 12 miles downstream, where Eel River water has long been diverted.

SuzanneJanuary 21, 2025January 22, 2025Habitats, Water, Wildlifechinook, coho, Eel River, endangered species, Potter Valley diversion, Russian River, steelhead

Rep. Jared Huffman secures $15 million for Eel River Dam removal and Russian River diversion plan

UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, recently announced that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded Round Valley Indian Tribes and the Sonoma County Water Agency $15 million toward implementing the Two-Basin Solution for water diversions from the Eel River to the Russian River.

In a press release, Huffman explains that “the funds through the Inflation Reduction Act will fund a major Eel River estuary project supported by the tribes, and put a down payment on construction of a new wintertime diversion to the Russian River following the removal of two salmon-blocking dams on the Eel.”

“This funding shows what can be accomplished thanks to the strong partnerships in the Eel and Russian river basins. We’ve now reached a significant milestone in restoring salmon and other aquatic life in the Eel River while protecting a key water supply for communities in Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin counties,” Huffman is quoted as saying in the release.

Explaining that “the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. plans to remove Scott and Van Arsdale dams that no longer produce electricity but prevent salmon from reaching 200 miles of spawning habitat, Huffman also notes that “Round Valley Indians Tribes and Sonoma Water worked together on the application and are also working with Mendocino Inland Water and Power Commission on a plan that will benefit both basins.”

SuzanneJanuary 13, 2025January 13, 2025Land Use, WaterFEMA, flood zones, flooding, insurance, Russian River, Russian River estuary

Russian River communities feel blindsided by recent changes to flood zones

Marisa Endicott, PRESS DEMOCRAT

☛ Permit Sonoma webpage with FEMA Flood Hazard & Zoning Update Map

A change to federal flood zones could affect insurance rates, property values and building, especially along the lower Russian River.

Nick Schwanz went to a Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting in November to weigh in on a particular agenda item.

He was surprised to learn, however, that another item, which appeared to be a routine and technical set of zoning adjustments, actually carried huge implications for his community.

Schwanz, a board member of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce, quickly pivoted and became one of the few to comment on an apparent change to the federal flood zones that could affect insurance rates, property values and building especially along the lower Russian River.

“As far I know this isn’t on anybody’s map,” Schwanz said.

Supervisors, too, seemed taken by surprise.

“This was sort of framed to me as technical corrections, and honestly the way the data was presented made it impossible to see the bigger picture,” said Fifth District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, who represents much of the affected area. “When we have constituents coming to us who received a notice in the mail yesterday and have no idea what it means, that’s a failure of community engagement. That’s a failure of communication, and we need to do better. I can’t in good conscience vote on this.”

At issue was a new study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of flood hazards in the Russian River Watershed, the first update in 30 years. The maps are used to determine flood risks and insurance requirements and must be adopted by counties to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.

SuzanneMay 30, 2024June 2, 2024Local Organizations, Sonoma Coast, Sustainable Livingcoast conservation, development, Russian River

Marty Griffin dies at 103, leaving legacy of land conservation, environmental leadership

Mary Callahan, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Marty Griffin was among a generation of pioneering conservationists who fought off development pressure and paved the way for protection of large swaths of the Marin-Sonoma Coast.

He didn’t do it alone. But the vast, open landscape of rolling hills and coastal waterways that draws nature lovers to the Marin-Sonoma coast might have looked a whole lot different had Marty Griffin not been around.

Imagine a freeway, whole communities, housing for tens of thousands, a mall, coastal villas, even a nuclear plant on the huge swath of coastline now dominated by nature preserves, public parks and agriculture.

Griffin and other early conservationists mobilized during the 1960s and ‘70s―as intense development pressures threatened to alter the North Bay landscape profoundly―and fought to thwart that outcome, shifting the region’s culture in ways that are evident in the lands now protected.

Since his death at home in Belvedere on May 22 at the impressive age of 103, Griffin has been remembered not just for his commitment to the cause but for his passion and leadership, the “clever,” “wily” manner in which he approached each challenge and his refusal to back down.

SuzanneMay 7, 2024May 8, 2024Water, WildlifeArmy Corps of Engineers, Coyote Dam, endangered species, Endangered Species Act, flood control, Lake Mendocino, Russian River, salmon habitat, sediment, water supply

Federal judge: Russian River dam releases are violating Endangered Species Act

Andrew Graham, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has violated the Endangered Species Act by disturbing salmon populations through flood-control releases from Coyote Valley Dam into the Russian River.

Those releases, which relieve pressure upstream from the 66-year-old dam during rainy months, kick up sediment from the bottom of Lake Mendocino, a reservoir that serves as critical water storage for Sonoma County.

The sediment increases turbidity in the river that harms and harasses coho and chinook salmon and steelhead trout in violation of the Endangered Species Act’s mandate to protect the imperiled species, U.S. District Court of Northern California Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled.

Corley ruled on a lawsuit brought by Sean White, who has spent much of his career involved in the Russian River in one way or another, serving as general manager of the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District before moving in 2015 to direct sewage and water services for the city of Ukiah.

White brought the lawsuit as a private citizen. The Endangered Species Act, one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws, allows for citizens to sue governments, businesses or individuals they believe to be violating the act.

SuzanneApril 21, 2024April 22, 2024Waterdrought, Eel River, Lake Mendocino, Potter Valley diversion, Russian River, water storage

Op-Ed: Diversion won’t guarantee a healthy Russian River

Don McEnhill and Ed Burdett, PRESS DEMOCRAT

When PG&E announced that it would remove Scott and Cape Horn dams on the Eel River as part of the Potter Valley hydroelectric project decommissioning, it put a continuing water diversion to the Russian River in question.

A Press Democrat editorial praised Eel and Russian River stakeholders coming together to endorse the possibility of a new fish friendly diversion from the Eel River (“Progress toward water security,” March 27), and we at Russian Riverkeeper concur. However, a continued diversion from the Eel River is not a solution in and of itself when it comes to ensuring long-term water reliability in the upper Russian River watershed. A continued diversion will not solve all the region’s water issues.

Russian Riverkeeper, a Healdsburg-based nonprofit organization founded in 1993 to ensure that river water is drinkable, swimmable, fishable and equitably shared, is supportive of the effort to create a wintertime diversion that allows salmon and Pacific lamprey in the Eel River maximum recovery potential, while still making surplus flows available to the Russian.
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The Russian River in Monte Rio on Feb. 5. (BETH SCHLANKER / The Press Democrat)
Close to Home: Saving rainwater for sunny days to come

At the same time, we don’t advocate putting all our eggs in one basket by solely relying on a diversion from another river.

SuzanneAugust 3, 2023August 3, 2023Agriculture/Food System, Water, Wildlifeendangered species, erosion, North Coast Regional Water Quality Board, Russian River, sediment, vineyards, water quality, wine industry

Sonoma, Mendocino County grape growers battling new rules designed to reduce sediment, pesticides in local waterways

Mary Callahan, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A new program targeting 1,500 commercial grape growers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties and designed to improve water quality in local creeks and rivers is drawing criticism from members of the agricultural community.

The draft rules include reporting requirements, annual fees, well and groundwater monitoring, ground cover requirements and restrictions on wintertime operations that growers deem excessive.

Vineyard operators and agricultural representatives say the costs and mandates are overkill for an industry that is already working to reduce sediment runoff into waterways and protect fish habitats.

Small growers are especially likely to suffer because “their margins are really small, and the proposed permit is going to create costs that are significant to them,” said Robin Bartholow, deputy executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau.

But staff of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board say the soil disturbance and chemical use in many vineyards, as well as potential disruption of riparian plants needed to shade fish habitat, can degrade water quality in creeks and rivers.

Environmental Center of Sonoma County

Tag: Russian River