USDA Steps Into Potter Valley Project Decommissioning Fight
Attacks "the radical leadership of California" for a "war on agriculture"
Typo fixed (12/22/2025 4:13 p.m.)
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins on Friday filed a notice to intervene in federal proceedings over the proposed decommissioning of the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project, responding to a letter from hundreds of elected officials, tribal leaders, ranchers and residents warning that dam removal could threaten water supplies, wildfire response and regional economies in Northern California.
The intervention comes amid growing opposition to Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s plan to surrender and decommission the century-old Potter Valley Project, which diverts water from the Eel River watershed into the Russian River system. The project includes Cape Horn Dam and Scott Dam, which forms Lake Pillsbury.
In a Sept. 29 letter addressed to Rollins and leaders of multiple federal agencies, the signatories urged regulators to halt or significantly revise PG&E’s plan, calling it legally deficient and environmentally risky. The letter argues that removing the dams would sharply reduce summer water diversions to the Russian River, raise water temperatures, release sediment downstream and undermine agricultural production, hydropower generation and wildfire suppression capabilities across Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake and Marin counties.
“The proposed dam removals threaten our region’s water supply, economic stability, and even our environment,” the letter states, while acknowledging support for environmental protection if paired with preservation of critical water infrastructure.
Rollins’ notice to intervene signals that the U.S. Department of Agriculture intends to participate formally in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process reviewing PG&E’s July 25 surrender application. The Potter Valley Project has long been intertwined with USDA-supported agricultural operations in the Russian River basin, where vineyards, ranches and family farms depend on imported Eel River water during dry months.
The letter asserts that PG&E’s plan identifies “unavoidable adverse effects” yet lacks transparency, meaningful tribal consultation and adequate mitigation. It claims that some tribes, including the Potter Valley Tribe, were excluded from discussions and that agencies responsible for protecting river resources were not fully engaged.
Signatories also raised concerns about endangered species, including Chinook salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey, arguing that sediment releases and altered flows could damage habitat for years. They contend the project requires a full environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, along with additional federal permits under the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.
Wildfire response featured prominently in the letter, which describes Lake Pillsbury and related water storage as “critical” water sources for firefighting. The authors warned that eliminating the reservoirs could hamper suppression efforts in an era of increasingly severe fires.
Among the signers are elected officials, fire chiefs, tribal members, business owners and hundreds of residents from communities throughout the Eel and Russian river watersheds. They urged FERC and cooperating agencies to reject PG&E’s plan “in its current form” and pursue a more transparent, science-based alternative.
USDA Secretary Brooke L.Rollins said she was concerned about “a profoundly negative and irreversible impact on local farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers.”
Rollins noted that the counties of Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Humboldt, and Marin together accounted or $1.4 billion in sales of agricultural products, according to the last census. According to the USDA, “That’s well over $4.2 billion in extra economic activity due to agriculture if you assume a standard multiplier of $3 to $1 which is standard in the nearby Central Valley.”
USDA’s comments, directed to Ms. Debbie-Anne Reese, Acting Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, require specific mitigations, which are laid out in the article: USDA to PG&E: Mitigation is Required for Potter Valley Decommissioning.
“Unless and until PG&E addresses the aforementioned issues included in these comments,” said Tucker Stewart, senior USDA adviser, “the Department respectfully requests that the Commission reject PG&E’s application to surrender its FERC license for Potter Valley Project dam because of the profoundly negative and irreversible impact on local farmers, ranchers, agricultural producers, communities, and USDA equities.”
PG&E has said it is pursuing decommissioning because the project no longer meets modern safety, environmental and economic standards, though opponents argue the utility has not adequately explored options to modernize or transfer ownership of the facility.
FERC has not yet issued a final decision on the surrender application. Rollins’ intervention ensures the Agriculture Department will have a direct role as the review moves forward.
FYI The Secretary of Agriculture is Ms. Brook Rollins.