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To the Editor:
In the recent Huffman-Rogers Town Hall meeting in Ukiah, Representative Huffman suggested the Potter Valley Project issue should not be political and that a “firehose of disinformation” has risen. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Mr. Huffman’s hand-picked “very inclusive ad-hoc community” included numerous members of the environmental community who dominated the entire process.
Cal Trout, Trout Unlimited, Friends of the Eel River were all allowed to join the ad hoc and by extension, their affiliates American Rivers and Sierra Club, Native Fish Society and more. Lake County was given one seat out of 30 and was shut down every time they spoke up. The Lake Pillsbury Alliance formed itself so it could have a potential seat at the table and when they did show up, they were personally told by Mr. Huffman to leave. The political determination that the dams must come out was clear at the outset. No alternative voices were permitted. Some of the members made it clear that if dam removal was not the outcome of these discussions, they would pursue litigation. Was that not being “political?”
PG&E was regulated out of having a profitable operation, with no opportunity to counter the argument that the dam was the only cause for the decline in fish populations. Are the years of over harvesting, historic unregulated timber operations and decades of watershed decline created by the cannabis industry even considered? Was the fact that fisheries have declined on rivers and streams without dams considered? Was any other method other than dam removal to create the visional dream of volitional fish passage considered? Was any alternative thought to having the US Army Corp or a funded regional entity take over dam operations, such as they already have for the other water reservoirs within the Region? The answer is no. Instead, the headwaters of the Eel River located in Lake County, which provides important water supply for the entire Region, is to be given up by a representative whose district does not even include the Eel River headwaters and Lake Pillsbury.
Has Mr. Huffman sought any funding for dam rehabilitation or has he only sought funds for projects that will be needed to make up for the loss of water storage and controls that already exist? Tear down the dam, update the water diversion facility, build a new dam and/or create a pump back system for Potter Valley, put in new ground water recharge facilities in Sonoma County, raise dams in Marin County (getting water from the Russian River), and raise the dam at Lake Mendocino? Lake Mendocino cannot function or operate independently without the Eel River water diversions. Under the new plan, diversions will only happen when there are sufficient “high flows” in the Eel in the winter and early spring as opposed to year round. What happens when we have back-to-back dry years? Lake Pillsbury would have some water available for management during these times if it were to remain.
Without Lake Pillsbury, when the dry and high fire danger seasons come around, when the area above Scott Dam goes dry (as it frequency does during the late summer and early fall), there will be no water to protect the headwaters region of the Mendocino National Forest, which includes communities that exist because of Lake Pillsbury.
Mr. Huffman has a lot of political nerve calling those who challenge his politics and views on the PVP issue as spreading “disinformation.” To date, he has tried to be the puppet master controlling the narrative about our Region’s future.
Environmentally conscious people understand the importance of balancing the needs of man and nature. Working with nature, what alternatives do exist to maintain the Region’s water supply in a cheaper and more balanced way? Is it being “political” when you disagree with Mr. Huffman? Are we “very political people” for wanting to save Lake Pillsbury?
-Frank Lynch, Lake Pillsbury Alliance
