Press Democrat article about Russian River flow cut!

Russian River water flow to be cut
PG&E: Eel River diversion miscalculated, volume to be trimmed further

By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The water diversion that keeps the upper reaches of the Russian River flowing during summer months is being cut more deeply than first proposed, federal fisheries and PG&E officials said.

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Federal regulators reduced the diversion by an average of 15 percent annually in 2004, sparking outcry and lawsuits. Now PG&E officials, joined by the National Marine Fisheries Service, say there were flaws in the initial calculations and that the diversion from the Eel River to the Russian River will be reduced by 33 percent on average.

Farmers, city dwellers and fish from Potter Valley to Cloverdale depend on the diverted water. But it remains unknown how the water reductions will affect them.

"No one seems to know," said Dick Butler, supervisor of the National Marine Fisheries Service Santa Rosa office.

Sonoma County water agency officials said they are taking a wait-and-see approach for now.

PG&E, which operates the water diversion, does not believe the water reduction will be noticeable most years.

But Potter Valley farmers fear they will be unable to adequately irrigate their crops or protect them from frost if the new cutbacks stand. "It has to be changed," said Janet Pauli, a rancher and chairwoman of the Potter Valley Irrigation District.

At issue is the amount of water PG&E has been shunting from the Eel River to the Russian River for 95 years to generate electricity at its Potter Valley hydroelectric plant.

The diverted water flows into Lake Mendocino, where it's stored. Releases from the dam keep the river from drying out during the summer and fall.

As part of a flow regime required under a 2004 Federal Energy Regulatory Agency relicensing agreement, PG&E was ordered to reduce the diversion by an estimated 15 percent on average annually. The reduction is intended to improve fish habitat in the Eel.

After being cited for diverting too much water early last year, PG&E recalculated the flow regime and determined the true reduction, on average, should be closer to 33 percent.

It implemented the flow changes last summer, but the primary impact is not expected until spring when flows in the Eel are highest.

The new guidelines mean reduction of about 15,000 acre-feet of water flowing into Lake Mendocino in a low rainfall year, said PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer. There would be about 40,000 acre feet less flowing into Lake Mendocino in an above-average rainfall year, he said. The lake has a design capacity of 69,230 acre-feet. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.

The recalculation is based partly on reductions in the amount of water believed to be available in Lake Pillsbury, located on the Eel River above the diversion tunnel, Eisenhauer said. Early calculations did not sufficiently address the amount of silt accumulating in the lake, and thus reducing its capacity, he said.

Butler initially said PG&E's new calculations were erroneous. But his agency has since come to a similar conclusion. The fisheries agency has concluded the flow regime requires a 28 percent cutback in the diversion annually, he said.

While the cutbacks appear ominous, Eisenhauer said they are not expected to have a huge impact on downstream water users because they will occur mostly during high flows.

Officials from PG&E, the National Marine Fisheries Service, California Department of Fish and Game and the Round Valley Indian Tribes will be meeting privately about the cutbacks next week.

It's about time I say! I watched the water drop out of my favorite swim holes on the Eel for years because of the diversion to the russian. The Eel river is the most pristine watershed in SoHum/Mendo it shouldn't be robbed for some frickin grapes. I'll drink french or chilean wine if comes down to it. FOER.

FYI...the diversion has been in place since before your grandparents were born, so any changes you have observed in that period were something else.  That said, I have no issue with the water going to the Eel.  The vast majority doesn't go to Ag either, but just to meet flow compliance standards in the Russian that are artificially high.  If the standards on the Russian change, then it could all good and a win win.

What has the Eel gotten out of it for the last 95 years. Swimming holes started drying up back then also. Seriously though the Eel watershed has been mucked with and worked over by man since the get go. It needs to be left alone. It needs every drop of it's own water. There's alot of sediment to be blown out and the river is capable of sustaining five times the current fish levels. Nature has her own plan for the rivers and as well as we can destroy them we can also help repair them. Beaurocrats and politicians will never care as much as the locals. They'll never even go there and see it. For those of us that have lived along the Eel the evidence is there everyday and were the ones in the creeks and drainages building willow fences and replacing culverts and digging out channels. Cutting off our southern brethren is a good start in restoring the Eel to her mighty stature.