Editorial: Progress toward water security for Sonoma, Mendocino counties
Last year, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it would demolish the [Eel River's] Scott and Cape Horn dams and decommission the entire Potter Valley power project. … Removing the dams will help restore natural river flows, which will improve fish habitat along the Eel River. That’s been a longtime objective of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. The tribes have strong historic and cultural ties to the river and its bounty. When the dams come down, the Eel River will become the longest free-flowing river in California according to fish advocates. Salmon, steelhead and trout all will benefit. Lake Pillsbury will disappear. Demolition is not restoration, though, and there will be ripple effects on other nearby natural areas.