Save the lakes
To the Editor:
A little common sense please. Save Lake Pillsbury and Lake Mendocino.
Isn't anybody going to bring a little common sense to the discussion about removing the 108 year old Potter Valley project? PG&E has stumbled, and the environmentalists and fishing groups see an opportunity and are all in for removing the Cape Horn and the Scott dams. These are the dams on the Eel River that hold back water during the winter. This provides year round continuous flows and a reliable source of water for the hydroelectric power project. The water is diverted through a tunnel to the power plant, which is in Potter Valley then released into the Russian River where it continues into Lake Mendocino. The goal of removing the dams is to restore fish migration past the dams into traditional spawning grounds. Evidently, fishermen are convinced this will improve fishing.
To me it makes sense to weigh the benefits of taking on a project of this size and with such far reaching consequences. Let's take a look. If the dams and the power project are removed, what will the benefits be? One is improved fish habitat resulting in better fishing. Weekend warriors can run to Cabela's buy $1000 worth of fishing gear and go kill fish. There will be more fish to kill. Second, the commercial fishing industry feels that ocean salmon catch will improve if our inland reservoirs are destroyed, but don't seem to acknowledge that the more fish you take from the ocean, the less fish there are to run up the river to spawn.
If the dams are removed, what are the potential negative consequences? Keep in mind this water diversion has been in place for over 100 years and many people have come to rely on it. Lake Pillsbury, a favorite boating, camping and summer home one. Lake Pillsbury is also a valuable source of water for firefighting in the Mendocino National Forest during wildfire season. This firefighting asset will also be lost.
Potter Valley Irrigation District will lose its summer water supply drying up Potter Valley farms and ranches. Lake Mendocino would suffer even worse than it has already under recent flow reductions. The lake will no longer be a place to swim, boat and camp during summer months. Lake Mendocino is the only fresh water lake in Mendocino County providing these recreational activities.
Downstream flows in the Russian River during the summer will also suffer dramatically. Farmers from Redwood Valley to Jenner rely on the Russian River for summer irrigation. Farms, vineyards and wineries that have sprung up along the river over the past 100 years will have to find other sources of water. Municipal water districts including Redwood Valley, Millview, Rogina, Willow, City of Ukiah, Hopland, Sonoma County and Marin County will lose a valuable source of water they have relied on for over 100 years.
What will the water districts do? They will raise prices and force conservation. Everyone will be forced to take out their lawns and landscaping, turning our residential neighborhoods into fire hazard zones. It seems obvious to me that all these recent fires burning through neighborhoods like Coffey Park could be prevented with lush green landscaping.
The scale tips very heavily towards leaving the dams in place and restoring traditional flow levels into Lake Mendocino. From what I have read, there is a fish passage ladder in place on the Eel River, but “it clogs up with debris a couple times a year”. OK, here comes the common sense. Look for a solution that allows reliable fish passage while improving the dams. The cost of removing these dams will surely be much higher than improving them. Maybe the trout fishing groups can volunteer to clean the fish ladder a couple times a year.
Let's face it, the entire Western United States would be a desert without the many very aggressive water projects completed years ago. Today we see uncontrolled immigration into the US and especially California placing more and more demand on our water supply. We are experiencing weather changes now and are warned about future global warming and the inevitable droughts and wildfires we are to expect.
If the predictions are accurate, developing more water storage capability is going to be critical as droughts become more frequent and last longer. The solution is not to destroy our 100 year old sources of water. We should be focused on managing our seasonal rains and preparing for the inevitable. We should improve our existing water infrastructure, raise dams like the Coyote Dam and look for safe sites to store more water. The bottom line is we need to manage our water it's a resource that we cannot afford to waste.
If it's the fish we are most concerned about, we should improve fish passage at the dams and curtail all fishing in the Russian River, the Eel River and the coastal waters where fish live that spawn in these rivers? They banned fishing in the North Fork of the Eel River following the 1977 drought. The result was a 600 percent increase in spawning fish in one year. Water is the lifeblood of our communities. We cannot allow it to be ignored and mismanaged by our government bureaucrats or taken over by special interest groups that only focus on one fishy part of the picture. These dams store and
provide year round water for fire protection, clean renewable energy, municipal water supply, farm crop irrigation, recreation and home defense landscaping. Look for smart solutions to improve fish habitat, but don't ignore or underestimate the North Bay dependence on this water diversion.