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Eureka Reporter, Editorial Page,
February 2, 2007
With the potential of demolishing the Klamath River dams to restore river health and fisheries, we would be remiss if we neglected to mention the Eel River within the context of river health.
It is our view that dams on the main stem of the Eel River and the diversion tunnel that takes Eel River water and drains it into the Russian River are adversely affecting the Eel River’s health and have been for nearly 100 years.
The 398-mile-long Eel is the third-longest river in California and was once a prime salmon- and steelhead-producing waterway. Because of what is called the Potter Valley Project high up in the Eel’s headwaters, salmon have been woefully affected and river health is beset with problems from sedimentation to low and warm water levels, which adversely affect the health of fish.
The Potter Valley Project began in 1908, when Cape Horn Dam was built — without a fish ladder — to create the Van Arsdale Reservoir, which moved water the Eel River’s health depended on down a mile-long diversion tunnel to the Russian River in an effort to produce hydroelectric power for Ukiah — a city that had grown weary of its air-pollution-producing coal electrical plant.
This 50-foot-tall dam sealed off hundreds of miles of prime salmon-spawning and -rearing habitat, although a fish ladder was eventually constructed in 1922. But that fish ladder was woefully inadequate and people began to capture salmon and milk them for their eggs and sperm, which were then sent around the world to be dispersed in other rivers. This is a strong testimony of what was once a mighty fishery.
Adding insult to injury, the 130-foot-tall Scott Dam was constructed in 1921 because of sedimentation filling the Van Arsdale Reservoir, which cut off 1,000 miles of upstream salmon-spawning and -rearing habitat. This dam created Lake Pillsbury, which is the incubating source of a predatory fish species called the pikeminnow that feeds on salmon and other fish.
In 1922, Humboldt County took legal action against the water diversion, with its officials understanding the profoundly catastrophic effects the diversion would have on the Eel River. County officials were basically told to stay out of the way of “progress.”
By 1950, “progress” called again, so the diversion tunnel was widened to allow further diversion, without a thought of its effects on a river that fishers once ranked as one of the greatest salmon- and steelhead-producing rivers in the world.
The Potter Valley Project is now operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and Eel River water is sold by the Sonoma County Water Agency to various communities south of Santa Rosa, including those in Marin County.
That’s correct. Sonoma County is the entity that is financially reimbursed for water that it has acquired from the Eel River! Some call this highway robbery.
At the same time that lawns are being watered in Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties, salmon and steelhead fight for their survival in a river depleted from years of diversion, highway and railroad construction and timber harvesting.
And while the Russian River tourist industry continues to exist, the Eel River’s tourist industry — which once included resorts, hotels and other recreational aspects — has nearly ground to a halt in comparison to what it used to be.
It’s time for the Eel River dams to come down, and we commend Friends of the Eel River for its significant pursuit of this goal.
If you would like more information on the status of the PVP, visit the Friends’ Web site at www.eelriver.org, where there is a wealth of information, including much of what was used in this editorial.