Salmonid Restoration Federation
Holding Space—Restoring Habitat and Making Room for Innovation
March 26 - 29, 2024
Santa Rosa, California

Eel River Dam Removal: Opportunities and Considerations

29 March 2024
9:00am - 12:15pm
Session Coordinator: Charlie Schneider, Cal Trout

Dam removal proposed as part of the license surrender and decommissioning of PG&E's Potter Valley Project has created an enormous opportunity to recover salmonids and other species of interest in the mainstem Eel River. The Eel is the third largest watershed in California and dam removal would create California's longest free flowing river. This session explored the opportunities and considerations associated with dam removal, how salmon might respond, and what associated restoration might be needed.
 
Eel River Dams Background, split talk: 
 
  • Why Eel River Dam Removal Is Urgent: Safety, Supply, and Salmonid Recovery, Alicia Hamann, Friends of the Eel River
  • An Explanation of Regulatory Pathways for Potter Valley Project Decommissioning (and Other Boring Stuff), Steve Edmondson, NOAA Fisheries
 
Hydropower Dam Decommissioning – Data and Decision-Making, Meghan Quinn, American Rivers
 
Identifying Instream Flow Needs in the Eel River in a Post-Potter Valley Project Ecosystem, Tim Caldwell, McBain Associates
 
Designing a New Eel-Russian River Diversion Facility: Fish Passage Alternatives after Removal of Cape Horn Dam, Kevin Jensen, PE, McMillen, Inc. & David Manning, Sonoma Water
 
Evaluating the Trojan Y Chromosome Strategy for the Removal of Invasive Sacramento Pikeminnow from the Eel River, CA, Alex Juan, Cal Poly Humboldt, 
 
Eel River Watershed, a Resilience Refuge: Identifying a Riparian Corridor Strategy for Climate Resilience Following Dam Removal, Christine Davis, California Trout