[{"_1":2,"_86":-5,"_87":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":56,"_73":56},"mediaId",6702217,"mediaKeyId","3617170-0a2b08c3f8815c984305047260a70b07","parentId",3617170,"title","Lake Pillsbury town hall highlights stakes of Scott Dam surrender: water, wildfire response and tribal rights","audioSeconds",10557,"startMs",17000,"endMs",10574000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3617170-0a2b08c3f8815c984305047260a70b07&start=17&end=10574","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3617170-0a2b08c3f8815c984305047260a70b07/thumbnail_17000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6702217/Lake-County/California/Lake-Pillsbury-town-hall-highlights-stakes-of-Scott-Dam-surrender-water-wildfire-response-and-tribal-rights","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6702217-70b227f7d2f705b326276b8aba734d7d/orig.mp4?Expires=1770420077&Signature=QYH1N54g8FtVROhior03Rzcm4xf~zp~jEG1EQfQbCAMeBgnsUULDNZF9LSvk~VrQspRfXJO36RSxntff4rRPAb96P~UPinUCRQfWmzZKZ8jcYR4UyB3oqyDGealTvRLbG-hFuD~VnjiVVBJa60~z59oMdd5g7mfDLCDtMDAq2MOvT2PTlxZab6sLoJQZfESkkdT79DAb0qUyuefj7Zl8O8gf3zZzBYTeFnTAlzKWxXY-DsxjzOZnaRuyDMGZNV-~b3O5OZ87ZO1s3taaiQ4EmVOL9xeq3zZPtzbAzcCK6CLtE26dtKMrWMcmU1RlmsWRc~GGDYV3K3zchnwJ0i7~DQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-05-30T11:56:14Z","article","A Lake County town hall on potential removals in the Potter Valley project on July 8, 2025, brought residents, elected officials and tribal and environmental representatives together to air competing views on whether PG&E’s Scott Dam at Lake Pillsbury should be surrendered and removed or repaired and maintained.

The meeting, organized by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, opened with Amanda Martin, chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, who said the chamber “does not have a position on this issue” and framed the evening as a public education forum where “all of our citizens [could] ask questions and voice our concerns.” The event assembled county supervisors, a congressional video message, representatives of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance, a Round Valley Indian Tribes member, the mayor of Cloverdale, Sierra Club representatives and the Lake Pillsbury volunteer fire chief.

Why it matters: PG&E notified regulators it plans to submit a final surrender application and draft decommissioning plan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on 07/29/2025; a decommissioning schedule submitted in filings would begin later in the decade if approved. County officials and local residents said the outcome could affect Lake County tax revenue, property values, regional water deliveries, wildfire response capacity and tribal water rights across multiple counties.

The debate divided roughly along familiar lines. Local officials and residents, plus Lake Pillsbury Alliance leaders and the Lake Pillsbury volunteer fire chief, emphasized the lake’s role in local economies, recreation and firefighting logistics. Supervisor Bruno Sabatier described Lake Pillsbury as a regional water source and said the dam and reservoir “help the fish survive” now by maintaining cool flows; he and Chair of the Board of Supervisors E.J. Crandall emphasized concerns about economics, fire mitigation and the County’s lack of detailed, actionable plans in the PG&E filings. Sabatier said PG&E reported the facility is not generating its reported 9.4 megawatts and that the utility has argued it is losing money; he added that PG&E has indicated it plans to submit a surrender application and later decommissioning plans.

In a video message shown at the event, U.S. Representative Mike Thompson urged engagement with federal and state agencies and said he had sent letters raising “serious concerns, especially around wildfire preparedness, economic opportunities, and the impacts on our environment.” Thompson said the FERC process would be multi-year and that Lake County must have “a seat at the table.” Luca Moretti, the congressman’s Lake County field representative, attended in person and took questions.

Speakers for the Lake Pillsbury Alliance, Carol Sinquini and Frank Lynch, described the lake as the “hub of the Mendocino National Forest” and cited recreational and local-business spending they estimated in the millions; Lynch and Sinquini said the lake supplies about $850,000 in annual property tax revenue to Lake County (an assessor estimate they repeated) and that removal would damage local property values and businesses that rely on lake visitors. The alliance argued for a full evaluation of retrofitting Scott Dam for seismic safety and fish passage before approving any surrender.

Round Valley Indian Tribes member Nicole Whipple addressed tribal water rights and law, briefly outlining the legal concept of senior tribal water rights and arguing that tribal claims and cultural uses of the Eel River watershed must be central to decisions. Whipple said she supports “undamming” the river in the long term but indicated willingness to consider diversion or interim measures while downstream users develop alternative supply. She emphasized tribal cultural and ecological priorities and cited the tribe’s long involvement in the issue and previous multi‑decade advocacy.

Mayor Todd Lance of Cloverdale underscored the Russian River communities’ water concerns and economic reliance on consistent summer supplies. He and other downstream speakers said they had seen long-term declines in the amount of water released from upstream reservoirs and warned that proposed diversion plans might not reliably replace Lake Pillsbury’s contributions during drought years. Lance said engineering projections shown to him indicated very limited additional inflow to Lake Mendocino under some diversion scenarios.

Deb Salley, chair of the Sierra Club Lake Group, said the organization accepts the risk that the dam may come down and urged local planning for restoration and recreational transition if decommissioning happens; she also noted seismic and operational issues PG&E cited in its draft application and urged preparedness for a range of outcomes. Several Sierra Club and conservation speakers pointed to dam removals elsewhere as examples where fish and habitat recovered over years following restoration.

Lake Pillsbury volunteer Fire Chief Larry Thompson described the lake’s operational role during the 2018 Mendocino Complex and the 2020 August Complex fires, saying helicopter scoops, tankers and pump stations used lakewater in sustained operations. He and other fire responders argued the lake provides firefighting access and a physical fire break and warned that removing the reservoir without a proven replacement would reduce firefighting resilience in the basin and surrounding communities.

Numbers cited at the town hall (participants gave multiple estimates and qualifiers): the Lake County assessor figure of about $850,000 in annual property tax revenue tied to the lake (PG&E disputed that figure and suggested an amount closer to $100,000); a cited property-value exposure of about $40,000,000; cost estimates discussed for interventions ranged widely in presenters’ remarks—fish passage retrofits quoted at $50 million to $100 million, seismic retrofit figures cited near $300 million, decommissioning and restoration estimates discussed from about $500 million to as high as $2 billion in aggregate when downstream mitigation, new diversion infrastructure and long‑term monitoring were included. Speakers also said PG&E had estimated the facility generated about 9.4 megawatts historically and that the company claimed operating losses.

Participants repeatedly asked for access to technical reports and for a full regional cost‑benefit analysis that includes Lake County impacts. County supervisors said the county legal and finance team has sent letters to federal and state officials requesting review and assistance and that Lake County has been trying to be more present in federal and state discussions. Multiple speakers urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior or another public agency to consider assuming the facility if it remained a regional water and flood‑control asset.

Public comment and back‑and‑forth at the town hall highlighted strong disagreement over causes of fish declines (some speakers noted salmon declines predate the dam’s construction in the mid‑20th century and cited logging and ocean conditions), the role of sediment and water quality (including concerns raised about mercury and algal toxins), governance and fairness of previous multi‑stakeholder processes, and the adequacy of PG&E’s public engagement. Several commenters urged greater vegetation management and forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk; others pressed for legal or administrative actions in the FERC process and for transparency around PG&E’s seismic assessment.

What comes next: PG&E’s FERC filings will advance a formal, multi‑year federal review; town‑hall participants urged stakeholders to submit detailed comments to FERC and to continue county coordination with federal partners. Congressman Thompson said he would continue to press for Lake County input and “continued input, review, engagement.” County supervisors said they would continue outreach and seek alternatives and that they had already sent letters to state and federal agencies seeking options for the community. No formal votes or policy decisions were taken at the town hall.

As several panelists and attendees noted, stakeholders from multiple counties and tribal nations will need to reconcile competing priorities—fish and habitat restoration, tribal water rights and cultural restoration, downstream municipal and agricultural supply, wildfire suppression needs, and the financial responsibilities borne by utilities, ratepayers and taxpayers—before the next substantive regulatory milestones occur.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Lake Pillsbury, Potter Valley Project dams Town Hall · Wed. May 28 2025","oneSentenceSummary","A Lake County town hall on potential removals in the Potter Valley project on July 8, 2025, brought residents, elected officials and tribal and environmental representatives together to air competing views on whether PG&E’s Scott Dam at Lake Pillsbury should be surrendered and removed or repaired and maintained.","taxTitle","Lake County, California","taxId",17505,"location","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":56,"_73":56},6699726,"Lake County town hall exposes sharp divides over PG&E plan to surrender Scott Dam",10567,17795,10585505,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3617170-0a2b08c3f8815c984305047260a70b07&start=17&end=10585","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3617170-0a2b08c3f8815c984305047260a70b07/thumbnail_17795.jpg","/articles/6699726/Lake-County/California/Lake-County-town-hall-exposes-sharp-divides-over-PGE-plan-to-surrender-Scott-Dam","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6699726-dad4476b05d1fcfd1a079df7bf31e888/orig.mp4?Expires=1770420077&Signature=jNszlq4IUE96tB2fQ6Qy7UlqfAatNnmlpXzX8vyZ90o5wyJTZuLZdUx5xaUYWc~zwf1a6vF8zc03TbeqZQNtWBjn20RXgcNiX90IlOLtpC-RBacgzT0PivJCocdxzQ4secrZjPHxE8NPgWFHjwz9LR9CtdYXwt8ogBT~4Lre3wE6OT3NluuVvpQrb5dDswFGJmL6vPW61uOw7YfOruGzKew1GF1kbOX266z5JPZCiYK4y2PJol6COGK2MSADHNQcMUevlzNtegJDN2DLMbmDjONTPNDjrp-J6iVb1LW-Eh8wBdT3O74vLIViKoxnflhbaPaNRU8tnju1vWtrbdXosQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Lake County officials, tribal representatives and environmental advocates clashed at a town hall convened by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce over PG&E’s plan to surrender the Potter Valley project license for Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury.

The meeting, convened by Amanda Martin, chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, gathered county supervisors, Rep. Mike Thompson (by video), Round Valley Indian Tribes member Nicole Whipple, the Lake Pillsbury Alliance, the Sierra Club and local fire chiefs to hear competing proposals, facts and fears ahead of a final surrender application that PG&E plans to file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on 2025‑07‑29.

Why it matters: county supervisors and local fire officials said removing Scott Dam would eliminate Lake Pillsbury — a year‑round water storage source they say is critical for wildfire response, local taxes and the lakeside economy. Tribal speakers and conservation groups countered that a free‑flowing Eel River would restore fish habitat and tribal uses and urged a regional restoration plan that does not depend on leaving the dam in place indefinitely.

Supervisor Bruno Sabatier (Lake County) framed the stakes in terms of local services and emergency response. He told the audience that “what is happening in Lake Pillsbury is horrifying” and warned that loss of the lake would reduce a water source used repeatedly during the Mendocino Complex and August Complex fires. Lake Pillsbury Fire Chief Larry Thompson said, “Water is our first and last line of defense in a fire,” and described 24‑hour water‑filling operations during the August Complex that drew helicopters, super scoopers and local water tenders.

County and local officials repeatedly cited a Lake County Assessor estimate that the lake contributes about $850,000 a year in property tax revenue to the county — a figure PG&E disputes and says is closer to $100,000 — and warned that the loss of lake‑related recreation and property values could damage local businesses. Frank Lynch and Carol Sequini of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance described the lake as the “hub of the Mendocino National Forest,” listing campgrounds, a marina, volunteer fire stations and roughly 300 recreational residences in the basin.

Tribal and restoration advocates urged a different view. Nicole Whipple, a Round Valley Indian Tribes member and policy advocate, said she supports removal of diversions and long‑term river restoration while acknowledging short‑term harms. “I am anti dam,” Whipple said, describing tribal water rights and the Round Valley tribe’s long‑standing advocacy for restoring the Eel River. She said tribal claims and federal law give tribes senior claims and urged recognition of tribal interests in any solution.

Deb Salley, chair of the Sierra Club’s Lake Group, said her organization views dam removal as a possible outcome and urged local planning for restoration: “Fighting the inevitable makes no sense to me,” she said, adding that proactive planning for recreation, fisheries and community benefits produces better outcomes than reactive efforts after a removal.

Cloverdale Mayor Todd Lands and other downstream interests emphasized water deliveries to the Russian River watershed and irrigated agriculture, wine country and community water supply. Lands questioned technical diversion scenarios presented by proponents and said recent engineering shows the revised diversion rules would deliver meaningful water into Lake Mendocino only “fewer than two weeks” per year under the proposed seasonal‑diversion approach.

Costs, technical uncertainties and timelines featured throughout the evening. Presenters offered widely different cost estimates: fish‑passage and diversion construction figures were cited at $50 million–$100 million, seismic retrofit options at roughly $300 million, deconstruction estimates typically cited in the $500 million range and several speakers warned that aggregate regional replacement and mitigation work could approach $2 billion. Several speakers also said PG&E reports the project now produces little or no revenue (the facility was cited in testimony as delivering roughly 9.4 megawatts but not currently generating) and that PG&E’s economics prompted the surrender application.

Congressman Mike Thompson, in a recorded message, said the FERC surrender application and any decommissioning plan would start a multiyear federal review and insisted Lake County “must have a seat at the table.” “Decisions of this magnitude cannot be made without listening to the people who will be most affected,” Thompson said.

County officials described multiple parallel responses already underway: the Board of Supervisors’ staff drafted letters to federal and state agencies, county counsel and staff said the county had asked federal agencies to evaluate their ability to assume responsibility for the infrastructure, and several speakers said the Department of the Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers had been contacted as potential partners. Speakers also said the county is a party to the FERC process and urged residents to submit formal FERC comments.

Public comment reflected the meeting’s split: some longtime Lake Pillsbury residents urged county action to preserve the dam and lake; others, including tribal members and conservation advocates, emphasized water rights, cultural uses and long‑term habitat recovery. Several public commenters described logistical challenges in the basin, including limited cell service and rural roads, and asked how restoration, groundwater, mercury and sediment downstream would be managed if the dam were removed.

What’s next: PG&E’s anticipated 2025‑07‑29 surrender application to FERC and a multi‑year FERC review process were cited repeatedly as deadlines that will shape follow‑up action. County staff said they will continue to press federal and state agencies for options — including potential federal assumption of the facility — and urged residents to engage in the FERC process.

The town hall made clear that the Potter Valley project dispute remains unresolved: local officials and first responders warned of immediate local impacts if the lake is removed, while tribal and conservation advocates pressed for restoration of the Eel River and asserted tribal water rights and cultural claims. The FERC docket and interagency discussions will determine whether the next stage is detailed mitigation, transfer of operations, retrofit, or decommissioning plans subject to regulatory review.

Quotes used in this article were taken from speakers at the town hall and are attributed to those speakers in the body above.","Lake County officials, tribal representatives and environmental advocates clashed at a town hall convened by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce over PG&E’s plan to surrender the Potter Valley project license for Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury.","actionData","errors"]

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Lake Pillsbury town hall highlights stakes of Scott Dam surrender: water, wildfire response and tribal rights

Lake County town hall exposes sharp divides over PG&E plan to surrender Scott Dam