Mendocino supervisors defer vote and send alternate Potter Valley resolution to next consent calendar after hours of public comment

Supervisor Klein introduced a county resolution asking parties to account for community impacts as the Potter Valley Project moves toward decommissioning and removal of Scott and Cape Horn dams. The Board of Supervisors heard more than three hours of public testimony and a long discussion among supervisors before rejecting the original resolution and directing staff to place an alternate version on the Nov. 4 consent calendar.

The original resolution, co‑sponsored by Supervisors Klein and Norvell, sought to prompt county-level discussion and to ask PG&E to “reevaluate its decision to seek decommissioning,” while expressing concern about loss of water‑supply reliability if diversion infrastructure is removed. Klein told the board, “Our communities have been built and predicated on the water coming through the project for over 100 years,” and said she wanted a public forum for residents’ concerns.

Nut graf: The item brought sharply divergent views from residents, water districts, environmental groups and tribal representatives. Several speakers and agencies urged continued collaboration through the…