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b'December 17, 2021 \\u2014 The Potter Valley Project is in a phase of uncertainty, but a recent feasibility study could be a blueprint for a future that includes a diversion without dams. \\nThe deadline for the license application is coming up in mid-April, and PG&E, which owns the project, has made it clear that it does not intend to renew. The coalition seeking to take over the license hasn\\u2019t come up with the money it needs to fund the necessary studies. And PG&E is not paying for a costly repair at the powerhouse that drastically reduces the amount of water the project is able to divert from the Eel River into the Russian River and on into Lake Mendocino.\\nThe new study, a technical memorandum funded by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with cannabis taxes, posits a few strategies for decommissioning the dams and building structures to continue seasonal diversions.\\nDarren Mireau, the North Coast Director of California Trout, signaled that he favors the rapid removal option with pumping. (CalTrout is a member of the Two-Basin Partnership, the coalition of entities that has filed a notice of intent to take over the license, but Mireau is not speaking on behalf of the entire Partnership here.)\\nHe says sediment, both of the sandy and the rocky varieties, will play a large role in how any of the alternatives is carried out. Sediment buildup that reduced the capacity of the van Arsdale reservoir behind Cape Horn Dam was a large part of the reason Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury were built in 1922, 14 years after Cape Horn. \\n\\u201cYou\\u2019re goint to have an impact with sediment release, and you could do that once, or you could do that four times,\\u201d he said of the rapid removal option, as opposed to the phased approach, which would take place over four years. \\u201cAnd each time has about the same caliber of impact. So it seems reasonable to do it all at once and get past the impact, and get the dam out.\\u201d \\nSince the point of dam removal is to protect fish, Mireau added, \\u201cWe would time it in a way that most of the fish are coming up the Eel River and heading into tributaries, so they\\u2019ll be distributed out of the effect zone\\u2026like I said, this is a feasibility level study right now, so a lot more detailed study will unfold.\\u201d Some options include a partial removal of Cape Horn Dam, but Mireau was unambivalent about CalTrout\\u2019s position on Scott Dam. \\u201cWe will certainly want to remove \\u2014 or have PG&E remove, to be honest, the entirety of Scott Dam,\\u201d he emphasized. \\u201cIt needs to go. With regard to Cape Horn Dam, it\\u2019s a little trickier, because it\\u2019s the diversion point for water going into the Russian River, and we\\u2019re committed to maintain that reliable water supply\\u2026this study is actually groundbreaking for us, because we now have three reliable infrastructures that we think would safely and reliably provide that water supply to the Russian River.\\u201d\\nOf the three alternatives, the pumping option would be the cheapest to build, at an estimated cost of $20 million, as compared to $35-$48 million for channel-building options. But the annual projected operations and management costs for the pumping scenario range from $309,000-$359,000, including water delivery costs to Potter Valley of about $284,000 per year. Annual O&M costs for the other two options range from $50,000-$200,000. But Mireau doesn\\u2019t have a problem with water users paying the price for the commodity.\\n\\u201cAny water diversion at that location is going to have some annual operation and maintenance costs,\\u201d he said. \\u201cThat\\u2019s unavoidable. The advantage of the full removal of Cape Horn Dam with that pumped diversion approach is that you get all of the obstruction out of the river that might impair fish passage.That alternative for Cape Horn Dam does that the best. And it does shift the cost, I think, to the water users, instead of the fish side, where it appropriately needs to be.\\u201d\\nReached by phone, Congressman Jared Huffman acknowledged that PG&E ratepayers are likely to get stuck paying for any alternative that ends up being implemented at the project. But he said ratepayers are already paying for hydropower costs, and PG&E is currently operating the Potter Valley Project at a loss of about $9 million a year. What happens next depends on the federal regulators.\\nIf surrender and decommissioning is the way forward, it will depend on an order from the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission. The Two-Basin Partnership is likely to withdraw its notice of intent to apply for the license, according to Mireau. \\u201cWe\\u2019re reasonably certain that will happen in \\u201822, at least by the expiration date of the license itself, which is April 14, 2022,\\u201d he said. \\u201cAnd then FERC will turn and order PG&E into that surrender and decommission process\\u2026and then it\\u2019s PG&E, the license holder\\u2019s obligation to respond, start developing a plan for that decommissioning, and go forward from there.\\u201d \\nHuffman said that, although surrender and decommissioning scenarios do differ, a dam that blocks anadromous fish passage, as Scott Dam does, would have to meet a set of regulatory standards so significant that, \\u201cWhen you add it all up, you see where agencies have weighed in, (and) the only way to meet standards is to remove the dams.\\u201d\\nThe last relicensing of the Potter Valley Project took 34 years. Mireau thinks time is of the essence for the fish, which are drawing nearer to extinction. Huffman hopes the condition of Lake Mendocino and the crippled transformer in the powerhouse \\u201cshould create a great sense of urgency.\\u201d He also noted \\u201ca reticence to give up on the license application.\\u201d But if the partnership doesn\\u2019t withdraw its notice of intent to apply, FERC is likely to wait until it misses the application deadline in April, just as the dry season is getting underway, before making the pivotal order. \\n\\u201cOne or the other will happen,\\u201d Mireau predicted.\\n\\nYou can find more documents about the Two-Basin Partnership at twobasinsolution.org'