What We Do
Find out more about IWPC and how we work to protect Mendocino County's water supply.
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Monthly Meetings
Learn more about upcoming IWPC meetings and events, or view our latest agendas.
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Potter Valley Project
If Scott Dam were to be removed, the water supply for more than 650,000 people in Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin counties would be critically impacted.
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IWPC & PVP Updates
Keeping you informed on water-supply resiliency solutions that respond to PG&E’s planned decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project while protecting Tribal interests and supporting the stewardship of fisheries, water quality, and recreation in the Russian River and Eel River basins.
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CHANGE IS COMING TO THE
Potter Valley Project
Today, Pacific Gas and Electric Company owns the Project, which is licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Project license expired in April 2022.
In 2019, PG&E decided to abandon the project. As a result, a local coalition, the Two-Basin Partnership, made up of Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, Sonoma Water, California Trout, Round Valley Indian Tribes, and Humboldt County submitted a Notice of Intent to license the Project. The coalition supported a solution that would have benefited both basins and all interested parties.
The Two-Basin Partnership failed to meet the FERC deadline for licensing and now local partners will have to find a way to fund the Project’s operations and maintenance.
Change is coming. With local control, we can assure equitable distribution of the water at a reasonable cost. The solution has to benefit all or it benefits none—without the Potter Valley Project our water supply will depend on seasonal flows. This could be devastating to local agriculture and other economic interests, households, and wildlife.
