Close to Home: Diversion won’t guarantee a healthy Russian River

When PG&E announced that it would remove Scott and Cape Horn dams on the Eel River as part of the Potter Valley hydroelectric project decommissioning, it put a continuing water diversion to the Russian River in question.

A Press Democrat editorial praised Eel and Russian River stakeholders coming together to endorse the possibility of a new fish friendly diversion from the Eel River (“Progress toward water security,” March 27), and we at Russian Riverkeeper concur. However, a continued diversion from the Eel River is not a solution in and of itself when it comes to ensuring long-term water reliability in the upper Russian River watershed. A continued diversion will not solve all the region’s water issues.

Russian Riverkeeper, a Healdsburg-based nonprofit organization founded in 1993 to ensure that river water is drinkable, swimmable, fishable and equitably shared, is supportive of the effort to create a wintertime diversion that allows salmon and Pacific lamprey in the Eel River maximum recovery potential, while still making surplus flows available to the Russian.

At the same time, we don’t advocate putting all our eggs in one basket by solely relying on a diversion from another river.

There are many risks involved in a continued diversion, including the fact that the tunnel sending water from the Eel to the Russian is more than 100 years old and could collapse in an earthquake. Someone could throw an unnecessary legal monkey wrench in the process, and while stakeholders might agree on an initial plan, securing funds for design, permits, construction and updating water rights will be difficult.

In the face of a changing climate and new climate extremes, Russian Riverkeeper strongly supports a diverse portfolio of solutions within the Russian River watershed; not only as a backstop if issues rise with an Eel diversion, but as a critical necessity to protect the river and water users against the unknown.

To start, climates in the Eel and Russian rivers are very similar. This means both watersheds will likely be experiencing drought and rainy seasons at the same time. Thus, when summertime supplies are low and demands are high in the Russian River, it is unlikely any diversion will be available to help support those needs.

On the flip side, Lake Mendocino will likely be full with limited space for storing diverted waters when diversions are highest and water needs low. This means that alternative storage solutions will be needed to hold winter diversions for use when summer water needs spike.

With so many unknowns, it is important that a variety of solutions are pursued to ensure water supplies are resilient to climate change. The cheapest and easiest solutions are improving water-use efficiency and conservation measures. Every gallon saved increases the water available for dry periods or carry over to the next year.

Groundwater recharge is a cost-effective option that involves pulling water from the Russian River during high flow periods and putting it into recharge basins or spreading it over farms where it can sink into the ground. This would help increase available groundwater for local use in dry periods, while indirectly benefiting the river’s ecosystem with water slowly seeping back into the river to augment flows and reduce temperatures in interconnected areas.

Another often-discussed option is raising Coyote Dam to increase the storage capacity of Lake Mendocino. But local tribes with ancestral homelands in the surrounding area must be an integral part of that process and support any proposal before it can be successful. Other available solutions include increasing farm storage ponds, installing rainwater capture systems, improving water data collection, expanding the reach of technology and using practices that increase soil moisture retention and reduce evaporation.

No matter what array of solutions is ultimately pursued, the most important factor is that we begin implementing multiple solutions today.

Just like saving for retirement or investing, diversified solutions help reduce risk. By pursuing multiple solutions within the Russian River watershed simultaneously we can support the recovery of the Eel River salmon and lamprey populations, while ensuring our community and river thrive.

Don McEnhill is executive director of Russian Riverkeeper. Ed Burdett chairs Russian Riverkeeper’s board of directors.

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