A crowd of farmers and ranchers packed the Potter Valley Junior Senior High School Library for a Town Hall meeting with State Assemblymember Chris Rogers. The Potter Valley residents had a lot to say. [Reporter’s Note: The comments from the audience, as well as replies from Assemblyman Rogers, are summarized and paraphrased, except for a few direct quotes. The comments were not fact checked, nor did I interview any of the speakers, few of whom gave their names when speaking. This report is intended to convey my impressions of the Town Hall.]
The Number One Topic: The Potter Valley Project
It was no surprise that most of the questions and comments were about PG&E’s plan to decommission Scott Dam and exit from the Potter Valley Project (PVP). It is likely that the PVP is a source of water for almost everyone attending the meeting. For those who are unfamiliar with the PVP, here is a link to the Mendocino County Inland Power and Water Commission’s Potter Valley Project web page.
Plans are in the works for the Eel-Russian Project Authority, a Joint Powers Authority, to build a new water diversion facility. PG&E’s water rights will be transferred to the Round Valley Indian Tribes, and Russian River users will have to pay a lot more for water, plus pay for the cost of building the new infrastructure.
Members of the audience asked Rogers to consider options to save Scott Dam, citing possible buyers for the project who could take over from PG&E, or possibly ask the state to take over the project. Rogers replied that we can continue to look at other options, but FERC is in the process of planning for decommissioning and that the focus should be on finding water storage solutions. Rogers said, “Any politician telling you that there is a buyer is selling you snake oil.”
Funds from California Prop. 4, passed in 2024 to fund infrastructure projects, could be used to build water storage. A commenter asked how could Potter Valley trust that new water storage will be built, when the long-planned for Sites Reservoir still hasn’t been built.
More comments:
- People in this room are about to lose their homes, water, and livelihoods. Don't gaslight us!
- We want to hear you say you're going to help stop this from happening.
- If the proposed new water diversion was in place today, flows this year haven't been high enough for a diversion under the new system.
- It’s going to cost $540 million to take it down, $240 million to build the diversion. Who knows how much storage is going to cost. It could be close to $2 billion just to save PG&E.
- Have you talked to Jared Huffman about this? [much laughter in the room] I was so angry at Jared Huffman's op-ed at Mendo College, I had to leave. There was mis-information and dis-information about the Potter Valley Project
- The Eel River environmental lobbyists, fisheries groups, the NGOs, the Friends of the Eel River, are suing everybody to keep one single fish from harm, because of some 200 miles of hypothetical spawning grounds.
- Don’t cut the flows down until storage is planned, funded, and constructed.
- The Round Valley Indian Tribe wants the dams to come down, but aren’t there tribes downstream on the Russian River who want to save the dams?
- I was on a call with a group that has a buyer.
Rogers said, “Where is this buyer? Bring them forward. Whoever is telling you this hasn't come forward.”
Comment, “I commend your courage for coming here. It’s like they want to get us out of Potter Valley to build a reservoir, and force everyone to live in apartments.”
A little girl wearing an American flag patterned dress stood up and said, “I don't want to move to an apartment. I have 4 kittens and a dog. They wouldn't be allowed.”
Rogers asked her what her dog’s name was.
AB 2494 Proposed by Rogers Regarding State Demonstration Forests
This was the second-most discussed subject of the Town Hall. Local small logging companies are opposed to this bill to “modernize the management of the State Demonstration Forests.” Currently the forests are managed by Calfire, which oversees logging operations as well as fighting fires. The proposed change in management would emphasize recreation, cultural, environmental, and tourism activities in the forests, with tribal involvement in managing the forests.
Comments:
- Small loggers rely on the demonstration forests for educational updates on logging.
- Small companies will have no place to take our lumber if they close logging in Jackson State Forest. The mill in Willets will close.
- Calfire is doing a better job managing the budget for the state demonstration forests than the State Parks Department does managing the budget for the state parks.
Rogers replied that some logging will be still be allowed. Rogers said “We are trying to create biomass hubs for the North State.” County Supervisor Ted Williams is backing the bill.
Other Topics:
Condition of our Roads, Gas & Mileage Taxes
Comments:
- California is the 4th largest economy in the world. Our streets should be gold.
- We pay five times more than any other state gas tax, per capita. The state takes in a ton of money for roads.
- Our roads sucked before we had electric cars.
Rogers said that the majority of gas tax revenue goes to Southern California. California gas tax revenue is diminishing because there are more electric vehicles. There is talk of eliminating the gas tax.
California has a specific blend of gas to keep the air cleaner, and refineries outside of California don't produce this blend. The legislature has allowed for a blend change, and to produce more crude in Kern County.
Rogers said, “I'm not in favor of a mileage tax. There's a de facto mileage tax on rural roads.”
Desalinization of Ocean Water
Is it possible to use desalinated ocean water?
Rogers spoke about a project off the coast of Fort Bragg, using wave energy to desalinate. The largest cost in desalinization is fuel. The wave energy project uses wave power and a solar panel to desalinate ocean water.
SMART Train
Where is the SMART Train money coming from?
Rogers replied that voters approved a ballot measure to use sales taxes in Marin and Sonoma to fund SMART. That is now up for renewal. Some segments of the SMART Train made it into the Master Rail Plan. It is not yet funded all the way to Cloverdale. The SMART Train could eventually go to Suisun station, where you could connect all the way to the East Coast.
Data Centers
What about building a data center at Lake Pillsbury?
Rogers cited Sonoma Clean Power’s report saying that PG&E infrastructure is so poor in Northern California that the town of Fortuna cannot build housing because there is no power to connect to the new houses. California has fewer data centers than any other state. Our bureaucracy is too hard to navigate. PG&E stopped the “over-the-fence rule,” meaning a generator of clean energy cannot sell it to a neighbor without becoming a regulated utility. Geothermal and wind energy are huge opportunities on the North Coast.
Home and Auto Insurance
Rogers said there has been discussion about requiring companies that sell auto insurance in California (a profitable business) to also sell home insurance.
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