Water diversion suit rejected by state
Zack Cinek
The Ukiah Daily Journal
05/02/2010
Potter Valley diversions untouched - for now
A complaint filed by an environmental group to stop water diversions from the Eel River to Potter Valley was denied Thursday by the State Water Board.
"It was the right decision," Janet Pauli, chair of the Inland Water and Power Commission said.
Friends of the Eel River filed it's complaint earlier this year. A main focus of the controversy is a small PG&E owned hydroelectric power plant in Potter Valley that uses water piped from the Eel to Potter Valley with a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Friends of the Eel River contended that PG&E's operation of the diversion and related dams is damaging "public trust resources" by threatening salmon and steel head, a release from the group stated.
Deputy Director of Water Rights at the State Water Resources Control Board, Victoria A. Whitney, said in a written statement that the state cannot examine the effects of PG&E's diversions.
But the Water Board can have a look at PG&E's irrigation water rights. The state's position is that "conditioning the irrigation rights would not impact the amount of water diverted" from the Eel to the Russian.
Friends of the Eel is allowed to submit an amended complaint, the Water Board stated.
Diversions from the Eel are part of what is named the Potter Valley Project. From Lake Pillsbury in Mendocino National Forest some water is then diverted at Van Arsdale, a small dam on the Eel over the hill from Potter Valley.
At the power house, water is released to the Russian River. The most recent version of a license for the project was issued in 1983 and changed to protect the Eel's salmon in 2004, the State Water Board stated.
PG&E has three water rights for its diversions from the Eel: A 1920 license allows up to 102,366 acre feet each year. A 1930 license allows PG&E to allow 4,908 acre feet for use by the Potter Valley Irrigation District. A 1925 license allows for 4,500 acre feet previously used for hydro power for irrigation in Potter Valley, the Water Board stated.
Water from the Eel is a crucial component of Lake Mendocino. "Lake Mendocino filling consistently is dependent on that water supply," Pauli said.
Lake Mendocino was built in 1959 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. When the earthen dam was built, plans called for the current reservoir to be increased by about 63 percent as demand for water increased, a report from the Mendocino County Water Agency stated.
