ANAHEIM, Calif. (DTN) -- A battle over water storage, irrigation and wildfire protection in Northern California moved onto the national stage last week as Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins challenged plans backed by California officials to remove a pair of 100-year-old dams.

In a state where water reservoir resources would seem precious, California officials support an effort by utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to remove a pair of dams -- the Scott Dam and Cape Horn Dam -- about 14 miles apart on the Eel River. Known as the Potter Valley dams, the two dams originally built for hydropower also support irrigation for nearly 307,000 acres downstream.

Rich Brazil, a large-animal veterinarian and livestock producer in Potter Valley, California, and chairman of the Save the Potter Valley Project, is among the farmers and residents in counties below the dams who feel they are fighting against not against PG&E, but their own state officials and environmental groups that have pressed for decades to remove the dams to increase salmon and steelhead trout populations on the Eel and Russian rivers.

"They have created this whole thing to go one way, which is to remove the dams, and we'll figure out the rest later," Brazil said.

The plan to remove the dams wasn't drawing much attention outside the region until Rollins got involved. Tying it to President Donald Trump's environmental criticisms of California choosing "fish over people," Rollins started challenging the dam removals on social media back in December. In her press conference last week, she called removing the dams "reckless."

Brazil said the attention generated by the Agriculture secretary has provided an avenue to push back against the inevitability that PG&E will outright win federal approval to remove the dams.

"Without her, you know, without the federal government, we're toast really," Brazil said. "We would have homes that have no water, we would have farms that have no irrigation, and we could be living in a fire pit with no water. That's why we're kind of making the noise about it."

ROLLINS FRAMES AS BATTLE OVER AGRICULTURE

Since becoming Agriculture secretary last year, Rollins has made it a point to engage in battles against what she sees as government overreach targeting farms and ranches. She quickly worked with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to end the federal prosecution of a South Dakota ranch family. Rollins then helped fight an eminent domain effort against a 175-year-old family farm in New Jersey.

"Again, I see this as one of the existential battles of our time, and that is the importance of putting agriculture first and putting our people first and ensuring there is an environment where rural America not only survives -- which rural America has been in survival mode for a long time -- but also thrives," Rollins said.

Fighting against PG&E and the State of California has moved to the top of the secretary's priority list. The battle pits the Trump administration and rural residents against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential presidential contender, as he seeks to maintain support from environmentalists.

In an Associated Press article in 2024, Newsom called for as many as six dam removals -- including the Potter Valley dams -- to boost salmon flows and push back on "criticism from environmental groups who say his water policies benefit big agriculture at the expense of salmon and other fish species that are in danger of becoming extinct."

Since Rollins became involved, Newsom's press office has criticized Rollins in California media by pointing out the dam removal is not a state project, but driven by PG&E.

USDA INTERVENES IN FERC CASE

In December, USDA filed a notice to intervene in the regulatory proceedings over PG&E's Potter Valley Project. PG&E officially applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July to decommission the dams.

USDA stated that intervening will allow the department to represent the interests of the U.S. Forest Service as well as farmers, ranchers and communities with FERC. Rollins filed 10 pages of comments with FERC calling on the commission to reject PG&E's application, citing that the five counties involved produce $1.4 billion in agricultural products and contribute $4.2 billion to the broader economy.

"The proposed dam removal and cessation of project operations will effectively cut off access to the lifeblood agricultural producers need to feed the country and world: water," Rollins commented to FERC. "It will endanger a vast number of USDA-supported activities in the region. It is also apparent that it will leave families vulnerable to more droughts and wildfire."

USDA's letter also cited that dam removals would affect the local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs because the area is comprised of prime farmland that requires irrigation water to produce crops.

Highlighting California's resources and climate, Rollins said at the Farm Bureau Meeting, "It (California) should be the very best of America in American agriculture and instead, the farmers and ranchers here are just fighting to survive in this Potter Valley over fish. It should make any average, reasonable American's head explode that this is happening in our country."

CONCERNS OVER WATER FLOWS, FIRES

The area in northern California tends to get all of its rain winter then rainfall shuts off in the spring. The dams divert a small amount of water from the Eel River then release it slowly, providing irrigation water for about 100 miles of valley beyond Potter Valley down to orchards and vineyards into Sonoma and Marin counties.

"All of this farming and all of this agriculture has grown up around this for the last 100 years and now they're just pulling the plug," Brazil said. "There will be no water. There will be no irrigation in Potter Valley. All of the homes rely on recharge of the aquifer from this irrigation water. Wells are going to run dry; property values are going to collapse."

The larger dam, Scott Dam, also supports Lake Pillsbury, which is a popular recreation spot. Lake Pillsbury also has been needed in recent years as a water source to help put out some of the largest fires in the state's history.

Todd Lands is vice mayor for the town of Cloverdale, California, about 45 miles south of Potter Valley in northern Sonoma County. Lake Mendocino fills the Russian River, which is the town's water supply. He noted the water stored and diverted from those dams runs all the way into Marin County, just north of San Francisco.

"If they were truly worried about the environment, then they would not be destroying the environment in the Russian River because it will go dry every year," Lands said. "That means all of your environment goes dead, whether it's fish, the bald eagles that we have, the elk population, all of these things go away because the river will dry up faster and where it has water it's going to be warmer and the fish can't survive on that," Lands said.

WHAT'S NEXT?

One reason PG&E can move to decommission the dams is because the company ceased using them to generate power in 2021, arguing that it was not economically feasible to keep operating the dams. Still, the dams maintain their water diversion and storage that everyone downstream relies on.

The power company stated it attempted to find a buyer for the dams before pressing for decommission, but none came forward. PG&E also supports an effort by the state and several local governments and entities to build a water diversion facility that would divert water from the Eel River to the East Branch Russian River, which PG&E said would allow water flows continue after PG&E decommissions the project.

"PG&E continues to engage with State and County Farm Bureaus, and directly with agriculture customers on energy issues that are important to them. PG&E expects to see intervenors in the surrender process and the USDA is often one of the interveners in projects that affect or are on USFS properties," the company stated to DTN.

When asked what USDA could do to stop the dam removals, a USDA spokesperson said there is no strict or statutory timeline for FERC issuing a final ruling or "surrender" order of its federal license for the project. FERC will also need to conduct a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and another comment period. FERC also will need to consult with other state and federal agencies. Based on similar cases, it could take five years or more before a final decision on PG&E's decommission request is finalized.

But the Trump administration last year revoked longstanding NEPA regulations and ordered agencies to develop new NEPA procedures meant to speed up federal approval, not slow it down.

There are questions about whether FERC can outright deny a company's application to surrender its power license. FERC does not have a history of rejecting decommissioning projects. FERC can put contingencies on the approval of the license surrender. FERC could also potentially direct PG&E or a third party to pursue relicensing or upgrades to the facilities.

WHO PAYS FOR DAM REMOVAL?

Paying to maintain the dams ends up being paid by PG&E's investors. Removing the dams would end up being paid by PG&E's ratepayers. The dam removals could be an estimated $530 million, even though the dams right now are costing roughly $5-$7 million for PG&E to maintain.

"Why would you spend $530 million to save $5 million? It makes no sense. But then, it's going to be the ratepayers and the citizens of California that are going to pay the $530 million," Brazil said. "They are a private company when it suits them, but then they're not a private company when it comes to paying the bill. We all have to pay the bill. So, none of this makes any sense."

But lower-income ratepayers in the valley also can't afford to pay more for dam removals when utility rates in the area already run from $400 to $800 a month.

The company has been provided with plans that could put in a fish ladder and rehabilitate the dams at roughly 10% of the cost of the full decommissioning.

"They went with decommissioning because that comes out of the ratepayer pockets, not the investors," Lands said. "It's a smart decision for a business."

Also see, "Rollins Calls for E15 Legislation as She Presses Trump Administration Agenda at AFBF," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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