MENDOCINO COUNTY, CA, 8/16/22 — A coalition of five conservation and fishing groups has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in federal court over alleged Endangered Species Act (ESA) violations in operating the Potter Valley Project. The hydropower project diverting flows from the Eel River to the Russian River is set to be decommissioned, and FERC recently approved Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)’s proposed 30-month timeline for creating its final decommissioning plan.
On Aug. 15, Friends of the Eel River, California Trout, Trout Unlimited, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and the Institute for Fisheries Resources sued FERC in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to modify the Annual License FERC recently issued for the Potter Valley Project, in order to comply with the ESA. According to the suing groups, the project’s conditions for “take” — or harm to protected Chinook salmon and steelhead trout populations — are no longer authorized following the recent expiration of its 50-year license and the expiration of a 20-year Biological Opinion from the National Marine Fisheries Service.
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