A workshop designed to inform local residents on the process of decommissioning the Potter Valley Project and “what’s being done to ensure the region’s future water supply” has been scheduled in Ukiah later this month, the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission announced.
“The workshop will provide factual updates, answer questions, and support a collaborative, informed dialogue about this complex and evolving issue,” the IWPC explained a press release about the meeting, which has been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 24, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center in Ukiah.
“With growing public interest, including recent discussions by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors at multiple meetings, it is an important time to bring the community together to hear directly from agencies and experts working on long-term water solutions,” the release continues. “There will be a Q&A session at the end of the presentations.”
During the Nov. 4 meeting at which the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution related to the decommissioning process, many residents expressed strong opposition to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s plan to remove the dams built for the hydroelectric plant it has deemed too expensive to continuing operating. Many resident also requested a community forum at which their concerns could be heard, particularly regarding the loss of water that flows through the project’s tunnel and into both Lake Mendocino and the Russian River.
When asked if the workshop, called “The Future of Our Water,” was in response to those calls for a community discussion, IWPC staff member Candace Horsely explained that the commission had sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors “in September regarding a workshop, so IWPC is sponsoring this event,” and that the commission planned to answer a lot of the questions asked at recent board meetings regarding the PVP in both October and November.
Horsely also noted that “it is our plan to be putting out press releases on a regular basis from now on regarding updates with the PVP, Lake Mendocino and ongoing new storage efforts in Potter Valley and areas south.”
According to its website, the IWPC was formed in 1996 “as a joint powers authority to serve as stewards of the Russian and Eel River watersheds, safeguarding the water that plays such a vital role to the region’s economic development, environmental quality, and general well-being of those who use this water.”
Janet Pauli, the chair of the IWPC, told the Board of Supervisors at its Nov. 4 meeting that improving “water storage and infrastructure (for Mendocino County) is critical, regardless of the Potter Valley Project. And those of you who know what the IWPC has been working on over the last 30 years, they understand that that’s been our mandate, that was why we were formed.”
The IWPC members include the county of Mendocino, the city of Ukiah, the Redwood Valley County Water District, the Potter Valley Irrigation District, and the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District.
The IWPC describes the decommissioning of the PVP as carrying “significant implications for water supply, habitat, and infrastructure in both the Eel and Russian River watersheds, (and that) IWPC and regional partners have been working for years to plan for a post-Potter Valley Project future, secure continued water diversions, and develop new agreements that protect local water reliability while meeting state and federal requirements.”
Speakers at the Nov. 24 workshop who will be explaining “planning efforts, future infrastructure needs, existing agreements, timelines related to PG&E’s decommissioning application and ongoing storage investigations from Potter Valley and south within the Russian River watershed” include Dave Manning, Executive Director of the Eel Russian Project Authority, Scott Shapiro, legal counsel for IWPC & ERPA, Tom Johnson, New Eel Russian Facility engineering specialist, and Pauli will be moderating.
The event is open to public, and “intended to help people better understand the facts, dispel misinformation, and engage constructively in one of the most significant water supply issues facing the region.” For more information, contact Horsley at [email protected].
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
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