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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Congressman John Garamendi, who represents the northern half of Lake County, on Friday submitted a formal comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission opposing the proposed removal of Scott Dam at Lake Pillsbury and demanding that Lake County have an equal seat at the table for determining the future of Potter Valley Project and the lake.
Garamendi, who served as the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior in President Bill Clinton’s administration, said the proposal to remove the dam was issued over the objections of Lake County residents as part of the Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s divestment of the Potter Valley Hydropower Project.
“Lake County residents who have owned homes and property around Lake Pillsbury reservoir for decades have been shut out of planning for the future of the Potter Valley Project,” said Garamendi (D-CA). “Let me be clear: any decision-making for the Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury Reservoir must include representatives from Lake County. Anything short of that is simply unacceptable.”
He said he strongly opposes draining Lake Pillsbury by removing the Scott Dam. “The planning process will not be adequate until every community impacted by this project has a voice in the process I expect FERC to give Lake County and Lake Pillsbury residents a full and equal seat at the table during this process. I stand ready with Lake County to create a version of the Potter Valley Project that works for every community involved, including cost-effective fish passage at Scott Dam.”
“We are extremely pleased that Congressman Garamendi is standing up for Lake County, Lake Pillsbury recreation and wildlife, and Lake Pillsbury homeowners,” said Carol Cinquini of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance.
Lake County denied a seat at the table
The Scott Dam is part of the hydroelectric Potter Valley Project, owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which in May 2018 announced its intention to put the project up for auction.
North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman led an ad hoc committee promoting what it’s called a “two-basin solution” that includes decommissioning and removing the dam.
Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, Sonoma County Water Agency, California Trout Inc., the county of Humboldt and Round Valley Indian Tribes, known as the “NOI Parties,” initiated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proceedings to make a licensing proposal for the Potter Valley Project.
Lake Pillsbury sits within northern Lake County. As such, the county of Lake sought to be a part of the group but was denied membership, and county officials – including Supervisor EJ Crandell, who represents the Lake Pillsbury area – said Lake County’s concerns have been ignored or entirely dismissed.
In his letter to FERC, Garamendi said Lake County formally requested to join the NOI Parties, only to be rejected. “Apparently, the ‘notice of intent’ parties’ standing rules require approval of all current members before another party may join. CalTrout – a nongovernmental organization that will likely have no official role in the future governance of the Potter Valley Project under the to-be established regional entity – voted to block Lake County from joining its peer county governments (Mendocino, Sonoma, and Humboldt) as a ‘notice of intent’ party. This is not acceptable.”
CalTrout, earlier in 2019, had issued a report listing the Scott Dam as one of the five top dams in California that needed to be removed to benefit fish and habitat.
This past May, the NOI Parties filed a feasibility study in which they seek to gain control of the Potter Valley Project from PG&E. The plan included removing the Scott Dam and destroying Lake Pillsbury.
If the plan is approved, Lake County would have no operational control over the Potter Valley Project, including the Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury reservoir. “This is just not right or acceptable,” said Garamendi.
“The Two Basin Partnership’s vision for a balanced future for people and wildlife who depend on the Eel and Russian rivers does so at the expense of those most directly affected by their proposal to remove Scott Dam,” said Cinquini. “Water supply reliability for downstream users has not been assured. The size and quality of Eel River habitat upstream of Scott Dam has not been ground-truthed. All fish mitigation enhancements need to be seriously considered before concluding that dam removal is the only path forward.”
On behalf of the county, Crandell has argued that there are many other ways to ensure fish passage, and provide environmental benefits to communities along the Russian and Eel Rivers and those that live near Lake Pillsbury, most at a fraction of the cost, but none of those options were considered.
The Lake Pillsbury Alliance, Crandell and the county, and now Garamendi, also have pointed out that Lake Pillsbury has for many years been a critical source of water for firefighting efforts.
“The Lake Pillsbury reservoir has been a feature of Lake County since 1922 and provides essential firefighting capacity for one of the most fire-prone regions in California,” Garamendi continued. “Cal Fire made extensive use of Lake Pillsbury reservoir for firefighting during the devastating Mendocino Complex fire in 2018, and again during this year’s fire season.”
This summer, firefighters also have drawn on the lake to fight the massive August Complex – which is the largest wildland fire in California history, at more than 1,030,000 acres – which resulted in evacuation orders for the Lake Pillsbury basin last month.
Crandell told Lake County News on Friday that he initially had filled Garamendi in on the situation when the congressman visited the Middle Creek Restoration project in October 2019. They spoke again briefly about it at his office in DC.
Then, on Sept. 16, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce set up a virtual meeting with Garamendi, Crandell said.
Crandell said he, Supervisor Bruno Sabatier and members of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance were invited to speak with the Garamendi about their struggles with the two-basin solution and share the history of Lake County’s interests not being taken seriously in regard to Scott Dam and most of Lake Pillsbury.
“Because of that meeting we were able to fill him in on the intricacies of this project,” Crandell said.
More study needed
In his letter to FERC, Garamendi said that a 2018 study prepared for the Sonoma County Water Agency – one of the parties now seeking to remove the Scott Dam – found that providing volitional fish passage both upstream and downstream of the Scott and Cape Horn dams would cost less than $64 million.
“By contrast, decommissioning the Scott Dam, removing or otherwise mitigating 12 million cubic yards of sediment stored within Lake Pillsbury reservoir, and other proposed project changes are estimated to cost upwards of $400 million, according to the parties’ feasibility study report,” Garamendi said, noting those “critical issues” are not addressed by the initial study report filed with FERC on Sept. 15.
Garamendi also referenced a Sept. 29 public meeting on the initial study report prepared by the parties, where he said it was summarily announced that the technical studies and future planning documents for the integrated relicensing process would no longer include an assessment of fish passage improvements at Scott Dam other than removal of the dam.
“How can FERC or the parties accurately assess the impact of the proposed removal of Scott Dam on federally protected fish species without considering those benefits, if any, relative to other potential fish passage improvements at the dam?” Garamendi asked.
In his letter, which can be seen below, he went on to point out inaccuracies in a FERC scoping document, and argued, “At a minimum, further independent study is needed to justify that the benefits of removing the Scott Dam outweigh the substantial costs, rather than just assuming this to be the case as the parties’ FERC filings do.”
He said he stands ready to help secure federal funding to improve fish passage at the Scott Dam and reservoir operations at Lake Pillsbury.
“I am truly grateful for Congressman Garamendi writing a letter for Lake County and the Lake Pillsbury residents,” Crandell said.
How to get involved
Members of the public can submit comments regarding the removal of Scott Dam and draining of Lake Pillsbury reservoir by:
1) Registering with FERC’s online public comment portal.
2) Once registered, check your email inbox. In the email from FERC, there will be a link to submit a public comment.
3) Enter docket number P-77-298 (not 285 as previously reported) and click “search.”
4) Click the blue + on the right side of the table to select the docket.
5) Submit your comments in the comment box.
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20201016 Garamendi to FERC Disagreement on Potter Valley Project ILP by LakeCoNews on Scribd
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Lake County’s COVID-19 cases increased to 658 on Friday, up 17 over the previous day and 30 over the previous Friday, according to Lake County Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Public Health said 55 cases are active and being monitored, and two patients currently are hospitalized, bringing the total of all cases hospitalized to 40. Another 588 have recovered.
This week, two additional deaths have occurred, bringing the total to 15, Public Health reported.
Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace said the 14th death was an individual older than age 65 who had a previous history of medical issues and was hospitalized at the time of death.
The 15th death, reported to Public Health on Friday, was an individual who was over age 60 and died following a lengthy COVID-related hospitalization, Pace said.
Statewide, county Public Health departments reported a total of 16,905 deaths as of Friday night, with more than 871,000 confirmed cases.
Lake’s neighboring counties reported the following total caseloads and deaths as of Friday: Colusa, 545 cases, six deaths; Glenn, 639 cases, three deaths; Mendocino, 1,080 cases, 21 deaths; Napa, 1,851 cases, 14 deaths; Sonoma, 8,717 cases, 129 deaths; and Yolo, 3,034 cases, 56 deaths.
The California Department of Public Health said Friday that local health departments have reported 41,984 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 194 deaths statewide.
The state also said that as of Friday there have been 16,621,956 tests conducted in California, an increase of 104,144 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.
‘Significant disparities’ emerge
In his Friday report, Pace said directing additional resources to disadvantaged communities and essential front-line workers are critical in addressing the impacts of the virus.
“Despite our efforts, significant disparities have emerged. Those that live in crowded conditions, work in settings requiring close contact with people outside of their household, and those with little available paid sick time have been infected at higher rates,” he said.
He said moving to less restrictive tiers of the state’s COVID-19 framework and further invigorating the local economy will require targeted interventions. “Those at disproportionate risk need resources: additional testing, services, and education to help people stay off work and out of the public when they are infected.”
In response to new requirements from the state that case race and ethnicity data be reported, Pace said infection rates in Lake County are two to three times higher among the Latino or Hispanic population and two times greater in Native American communities as compared to the general population data.
He said 49.9 percent of Lake County’s cases have affected Latino or Hispanic individuals, and 6.2 percent of those infected have been Native American.
The latest American Community Survey data from the US Census Bureau shows that Hispanics or Latinos make up 20 percent of the Lake County population – which numbers just above 64,000 residents – while Native Americans account for 5.2 percent.
“Regrettably, these groups are facing more problems with access to services and greater pressures to work, even when exposed to the virus,” Pace said. “The county of Lake’s Health Services Department is committed to acting on these disparities, and we submitted a plan to the state this week.”
The California Department of Public Health reported that Latinos have accounted for 61.1 percent of the state’s total cases and 48.6 percent of all deaths. African Americans account for 4.2 percent of cases and 7.5 percent of deaths, Native Americans or Alaska Natives account for 1.1 percent of cases and 0.7 percent of deaths. Whites make up 17.4 percent of cases and 30.1 percent of deaths.
Pace said the state has also encouraged local jurisdictions to regularly publish data regarding caseloads in groups with the highest rates of COVID-19 infection, and Pace said Public Health will start doing that next week.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is set to approve a resolution accepting unanticipated funds, including $463,702 from the federal government, for COVID-19 testing and epidemiological surveillance-related activities, including enhancing Public Health surveillance systems and COVID-19 crisis response.
“Directing resources where the need is greatest just makes sense, and we are grateful federal and state funding is available to support enhanced effort,” Pace said.
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Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mike Wink said the fire was dispatched at 11:42 a.m., just east of New Long Valley Road, east of Clearlake Oaks.
Wink credited the sharp-eyed volunteers of the Mt. Konocti Lookout for spotting the fire early on.
While the volunteers are no longer in the lookout tower due to safety issues, they continue to have a presence on the mountaintop to look for fires, he said.
And on Friday, “Their determination and hard work paid off,” Wink said.
That early report was particularly important because the fire was located in an area without cell phone service, said Wink.
Another fortunate factor: “Just by random coincidence there was a strike team of engines that were passing through the area of Highway 20,” Wink said.
Following the fire’s dispatch, Wink said a strike team of five engines from Cal Fire’s Amador-El Dorado Unit happened to be traveling along Highway 20, on their way home from an assignment in Covelo, where they had been working on the north zone of the August Complex.
That group of firefighters, monitoring the radio traffic, stopped and joined the firefighting effort, which Wink said included a wildland dispatch of five Cal Fire engines and local fire agencies, as well as another five engines from Mendocino County fire districts that has been staged in the city of Clearlake due to the red flag conditions.
Wink said tankers and helicopters – including Copter 104 from Boggs Mountain, plus another copter that had been staged there due to the red flag warning – were part of the response.
All of them “pounced” on the fire, which Wink said burned in grass along the highway.
Although the fire had a northwest wind on it, “Luckily, it didn’t jump the highway,” Wink said.
The firefighters held the fire to three acres and contained it very quickly, he said.
Radio reports indicated Highway 20 was closed for a short time as firefighters were working in the area.
Wink said the fire started on private property.
“The property owner is cooperating with the investigation and it is not suspicious,” Wink said of the fire’s cause.
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City Manager Kevin Ingram took the proposal to the council at its Oct. 6 meeting.
He said it’s the time of year to consider recruitment for the city’s committees and commissions. Over the past couple of years, the city has had trouble finding enough people to fill the seats and hasn’t had adequate agenda items for those who do serve.
As a result, Ingram was proposing a new option, which included freezing the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee and instead forming ad hoc committees to deal with specific issues.
Ingram also suggested that at the beginning of the year the council would hold joint meetings with its committees to help members understand their roles and the council's direction.
“I think what’s important here is that the commissions and committees work in a manner that is beneficial for the council and for the city,” said City Attorney David Ruderman, who told the council that any resulting Brown Act concerns from creating the new committees would be handled by staff.
Council members offered their support for the plan, with Councilwoman Stacey Mattina noting that she liked the potential for having less staff time going into managing city committees that don’t meet regularly.
Ingram said the proposal was only dealing with the Traffic Safety and Advisory Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee, as the Lakeport Planning Commission and Measure Z Advisory Committee have set roles, and the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee has a strategic plan.
He said if it doesn’t work, in a year the city can return to its previous approach.
Councilman Kenny Parlet said that, ultimately, issues come back to the council anyway, and if there are problems community members usually call the council members directly.
Councilwoman Mireya Turner said everyone is strapped for time, so it made sense to focus resources where there’s the most energy and where they can get things done.
Turner moved to direct staff to review council goals, return with proposals for new ad hoc committees, and freeze the Traffic Safety and Advisory Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee, which the council approved unanimously.
Ingram said he has talked to both the Traffic Safety and Advisory Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee about the proposal and believed that the members are looking forward to participating in the new ad hoc committees.
In other council action on Oct. 6, the council presented a proclamation to Sheri Young of Lake Family Resource Center designating October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, held a hearing and approved an ordinance to update the Lakeport Municipal Code’s emergency services chapter, made amendments to the fiscal year 2020-21 city budget and approved a resolution for approval that would authorize the city manager to submit an application for the Prop 68 Per Capita Program and execute any agreements necessary for the use of grant funds.
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