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Opinion
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- Written by: Frank Lynch
In the recent Huffman-Rogers Town Hall meeting in Ukiah, Representative Huffman suggested the Potter Valley Project issue should not be political and that a “firehose of disinformation" has risen. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Mr. Huffman’s hand-picked “very inclusive ad-hoc community" included numerous members of the environmental community who dominated the entire process.
Cal Trout, Trout Unlimited, Friends of the Eel River were all allowed to join the ad hoc and by extension, their affiliates American Rivers and Sierra Club, Native Fish Society and more. Lake County was given one seat out of 30 and was shut down every time they spoke up.
The Lake Pillsbury Alliance formed itself so it could have a potential seat at the table and when they did show up, they were personally told by Mr. Huffman to leave.
The political determination that the dams must come out was clear at the outset. No alternative voices were permitted. Some of the members made it clear that if dam removal was not the outcome of these discussions, they would pursue litigation. Was that not being "political?"
PG&E was regulated out of having a profitable operation, with no opportunity to counter the argument that the dam was the only cause for the decline in fish populations.
Are the years of over harvesting, historic unregulated timber operations and decades of watershed decline created by the cannabis industry even considered? Was the fact that fisheries have declined on rivers and streams without dams considered? Was any other method other than dam removal to create the visional dream of volitional fish passage considered? Was any alternative thought to having the US Army Corp or a funded regional entity take over dam operations, such as they already have for the other water reservoirs within the region?
The answer is no. Instead, the headwaters of the Eel River located in Lake County, which provides important water supply for the entire region, is to be given up by a representative whose district does not even include the Eel River headwaters and Lake Pillsbury.
Has Mr. Huffman sought any funding for dam rehabilitation or has he only sought funds for projects that will be needed to make up for the loss of water storage and controls that already exist?
Tear down the dam, update the water diversion facility, build a new dam and/or create a pump back system for Potter Valley, put in new ground water recharge facilities in Sonoma County, raise dams in Marin County (getting water from the Russian River), and raise the dam at Lake Mendocino?
Lake Mendocino cannot function or operate independently without the Eel River water diversions. Under the new plan, diversions will only happen when there are sufficient “high flows” in the Eel in the winter and early spring as opposed to year round. What happens when we have back-to-back dry years? Lake Pillsbury would have some water available for management during these times if it were to remain.
Without Lake Pillsbury, when the dry and high fire danger seasons come around, when the area above Scott Dam goes dry (as it frequency does during the late summer and early fall), there will be no water to protect the headwaters region of the Mendocino National Forest, which includes communities that exist because of Lake Pillsbury.
Mr. Huffman has a lot of political nerve calling those who challenge his politics and views on the PVP issue as spreading “disinformation.” To date, he has tried to be the puppet master controlling the narrative about our region's future.
Environmentally conscious people understand the importance of balancing the needs of man and nature.
Working with nature, what alternatives do exist to maintain the region's water supply in a cheaper and more balanced way? Is it being “political” when you disagree with Mr. Huffman?
Are we “very political people” for wanting to save Lake Pillsbury?
Frank Lynch is a member of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance. He lives in Cloverdale, California.
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- Written by: Bob Schneider and Chad Roberts
PG&E identifies this action as a business decision because of the project’s failure to produce revenues that offset its operating costs, even though PG&E customers pay higher rates for delivered energy than just about everywhere else in the United States.
In our opinion, PG&E has determined to rid itself of the PVP for a different kind of economic consideration, after determining that the Scott Dam represents an economic liability that the company cannot afford.
A key factor in this determination is the increased understanding of the seismic hazards represented by the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone, or BSFZ, which runs through Lake Pillsbury approximately 5000 feet east of Scott Dam.
As part of the PVP relicensing process, FERC held an auction for potential alternative licensees for the PVP. No takers made offers to accept the ownership of and responsibility for this existing hydropower license, for the same reason that PG&E does not want the responsibility for these existing conditions: a recognition of the outstanding risk that the BSFZ represents for the PVP licensee.
The history of the PVP doesn’t need to be repeated here, but the scientific understanding of Earth sciences that has developed in the past century, which is critical in considering the best options for the future of the PVP, is less well-known.
The geological framework represented by plate tectonics is particularly significant in understanding the circumstances presented for the PVP. The dynamics of plate tectonics were not understood in the early 1900s when the Cape Horn and Scott Dams were designed and constructed.
Over this past century, the scientific understanding of plate tectonics (including the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone) has developed continuously, and most of our current understanding of how tectonic dynamics affect northwestern California has developed fully only in the most recent 30 years.
A short summary of western California’s geological history shows that until about 28 million years ago the western continental margin was a “subduction zone” with the Farallon Plate subducting beneath the western margin of the North American Plate. West of the Farallon Plate was another plate (the Pacific Plate), with a surface movement direction toward the northwest. When the margin between the Pacific Plate and the Farallon Plate reached the edge of the North American Plate, the relative dynamics of the plate boundary changed to become a “transform margin”, with the Pacific Plate moving northwest relative to the North American Plate. This margin is known today as the San Andreas Fault Zone, or SAFZ.
The SAFZ is not just a line on a map, but a 50-mile-wide zone of fault activity on a number of collateral major faults in addition to the San Andreas Fault itself. The Bartlett Springs Fault Zone is the easternmost fault in the SAFZ.
The BSFZ extends 50 miles from the Middle Fork of the Eel River southeast to Round Valley, past Lake Pillsbury and Bartlett Springs to just north of Cache Creek. Related faults in the same alignment system to the south include Wilson, Hunting Creek, and Green Valley faults.
Nobody we know can accurately predict when a seismic event might occur. However, based upon the length of the fault zone and other criteria geologists can estimate the potential magnitude of a major seismic event. Recent studies have identified the Bartlett Springs Fault as capable of producing an earthquake of Moment Magnitude between 6.7 and 7.2 (as documented by geological studies published by B.L. Melosh et al. 2024, V.E. Langenheim et al. 2023, and J.C. Lozos et al. 2015).
Earthquakes with magnitudes between 6.7 and 7.2 are major seismic events. Prior events within the memories of individuals living in northern California that fall within this magnitude range include the 1994 Northridge Earthquake (M6.7), the 1992 Cape Mendocino Triple Junction Earthquake (M7.2), the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake (M6.9), and the 1980 Eureka (Gorda Plate) Earthquake (M7.3).
The 1992 Mendocino Triple Junction event (M7.2) resulted in damage in Ferndale (in Humboldt County) very similar to the damage that occurred in Ferndale from the 1906 (M7.9) event in San Francisco. The 1980 Gorda Plate earthquake (M7.3) resulted in a collapsed Highway 101 overpass near Humboldt Bay. The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake (M6.9) was on an oblique fault very close to the San Andreas Fault in the Santa Cruz area, and may be more directly indicative of effects associated with the Bartlett Springs Fault at Lake Pillsbury. The event was memorialized on TV because it occurred at the start of a World Series game in San Francisco. Long sections of the I-580 freeway in Oakland collapsed during the quake, and a large part of the Marina District in San Francisco was damaged because of liquefaction in the poorly consolidated fill on which it was built.
An earthquake in this magnitude range on the Bartlett Springs Fault in the vicinity of Lake Pillsbury could result in an immediate failure of Scott Dam as a consequence of the seismic shaking per se. Moreover, the existing large landslide at the south end of the dam, on which the south abutment is based, would likely be mobilized (as occurred widely in northwestern California in 1992 with the Triple Junction event), leading to the destruction of the south end of the dam, and the rest of the structure would follow. This location was not then, and is not now, a safe location for a dam.
Dams do fail and while the specific dynamics are different, the St Francis Dam failure in Los Angeles County in 1928 is a relevant example. A common joke among geologists is that a sure way to find a new fault is to look for an older dam, an indication of how significant a risk geologists consider fault movement to be with respect to dam safety, particularly for older structures. Geological science clearly indicates that the BSFZ represents a significant risk of failure for Scott Dam. While we have yet to see the internal studies conducted by PG&E for the Scott Dam, we suspect that those studies say the same. We strongly believe that discussions among members of the public and their elected decision-makers about the future of the Potter Valley Project should include a greater appreciation of these geological realities.
Bob Schneider has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from UC Davis. Chad Roberts is a senior ecologist with a Ph.D. in ecology from UC Davis. They live in Davis, California.
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- Written by: Mary Borjon
This is a time of frozen federal dollars that won't be received by our schools or by our local health and human service entities, including our hospitals, and clinics. Those federal dollars have already been cut to The Gleaners, and other local resources that ensure healthy families and seniors, as well as early childhood education and by those who work on forest fire mitigation. The impact is already being acutely felt here in Lake County.
District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska won her election fair and square. She is steadfastly fulfilling her duties with dedication and expertise gained through experience and through important relationships she has built with other governing agencies and their leaders.
Her in-depth knowledge regarding local entities and how to work on their behalf with Washington bureaucracies has been gained through time on task, study and experience. I encourage all District 5 registered voters to not reward an ill-advised and wasteful recall petition effort with your precious signatures.
We are currently being served by a legally elected, devoted, competent, energetic and knowledgeable person, Jessica Pyska. Let's all put our energy and efforts into learning about what our supervisors and other county leaders are doing to support and protect Lake County in this very challenging time.
I want the person who publicly campaigned on clearly stated values, who was duly elected, who has expertise, who has strong relationships with other governmental leaders and who has an in-depth understanding of what faces Lake County to continue to represent me. Jessica Pyska has been and continues to be that person.
When an isolated recall for the position of county supervisor is successful, the position is left empty. At some point, the position is filled by appointment by the governor. I would much rather have the person most of us voted for in continuous service to District 5 throughout these challenging times and throughout her full term. If for some reason this recall effort forces a special election, there goes more Lake County money out the door.
Rather than supporting a recall effort with your signature, let those who want to be supervisor do it the way Jessica did, by publicly running for office with her skills, expertise and values on full display, during the normal election cycle. I believe in the power of the vote and will always protest frivolous recall efforts.
Mary Borjon lives in Kelseyville, California.
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- Written by: Mary Benson
I am writing to share my concerns about the city of Clearlake’s new plan for rental homes. The city is thinking about changing the rules for people who own homes and rent them out. This plan may sound good at first, but when you look closer, it doesn’t seem fair or helpful. I hope the city will make substantial changes before making it official.
The city wants all rental property owners to register their homes every year. This means filling out an online form and paying $105 for each home. On top of that, each home must be inspected for habitability once a year. That inspection will cost $135. So, if someone owns two homes they rent out, they will have to pay $480 every year just to follow the rules. That’s a lot of money for small property owners or people who rent out property in their retirement or to make ends meet. The city may opt to place a property on a every-two-year inspection schedule, but the annual registration fee would still be required.
The ordinance states that all property owners who rent out their homes will be required to also obtain a business license, but the city’s current rules on business licenses say that property owners renting out fewer than five homes are exempt from annual business license fees. It isn’t clear which rule to follow.
It’s not just about the money. The inspection part is also a big problem. The city says anyone from the city who shows a badge or papers can enter a rental home to do an inspection. They don’t even have to give much warning. The rules say they might give notice, but even then, they can say, “We’ll be there sometime during this four-hour window,” and renters or owners have to wait around for them. That’s not respectful of people’s time or privacy. Imagine someone you don’t know showing up to look around your house. That would feel uncomfortable for a lot of people. Renters are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property, and entitled by law to be given 24-hours notice before someone enters their home for an inspection. The Ordinance as it is currently written does not follow the current law regarding renters’ rights.
Also, the city says this new rule will help make homes safer and better. That sounds good, but they already tried a similar program before. From 2000 to 2005, they had a rental inspection program, and it was abandoned in 2005. If it didn’t work then, why do they think it will work now? Through this ordinance, the city is planning to re-activate that prior program, with some tweaks.
Another problem is that they’re treating every rental property the same, even when some homes are already being inspected. For example, homes rented under the Section 8 program already get checked every year. Property managers also inspect homes they take care of. But the city still wants these homes, and their occupants, to go through another inspection.
Even vacation rentals are included. These are homes that people rent out for short stays, like through Airbnb. These kinds of rentals already have online reviews, and if a house is not habitable, no one will rent those homes. Why make those properties go through the same inspections, too?
This plan might sound like it helps renters by making sure homes are in good shape, but it might do the opposite. Many property owners are already saying they’ll stop renting out their homes if the city adopts these revised rules. If that happens, there will be fewer places to rent in Clearlake. When there are fewer homes to rent, the prices go up. That means higher rent for everyone, and more people will have trouble finding a place they can afford.
The ordinance says this is about updating their local codes to match state codes for buildings and safety. But they don’t need to go into people’s homes to update their codes. That can be done without bothering renters or charging property owners.
The ordinance states that it does not intend to force property owners to upgrade their homes to current standards, but it also states its goal is to improve the standards of all rental homes. Are renters going to be forced to vacate their home with their children and pets if the city decides to require major upgrades to the house?
The worst part is what happens if someone doesn’t agree to these rules. If a property owner or renter refuses the inspection, the ordinance says both the property owner and the occupant could face fines and could even go to jail. That seems way too harsh, especially when the rules don’t seem fair to begin with. The ordinance references two different city codes when stating the potential penalties for refusing to comply: Municipal Code Sections 1-5 and 1-9. These Ordinances conflict with one another. Which code will be used? One sets a $500/day penalty for up to 6 months (Section 1-5), and the other sets a $100/violation penalty (Section 1-9).
It feels like the city is not thinking about the people who rent their homes or the people who live in those homes. Most owners who rent out their homes are not big companies. They’re regular people who worked hard to buy a home and rent it out. They don’t want to break the law or have problems with the city. But this plan makes it less attractive to invest in Clearlake. How will the city find the owners who are not complying with the ordinance?
We all want safe and clean homes. That’s important. But there has to be a better way to make sure of that. Maybe the city could focus on homes that already have problems instead of checking every single rental every year or every other year. Or maybe they could offer virtual inspections for homes to minimize the intrusions. Perhaps the inspectors should have body-cams so if there is an allegation of misconduct, the camera footage could be reviewed.
The city could consider more outreach to renters to encourage them to report issues with habitability and then schedule an inspection at that point. There are laws against property owners retaliating against renters for reporting problems, but a lot of renters do not know this.
The city should listen to the people who live and work here. We need more rental homes, not fewer. We need sensible, clear rules that make sense and help both renters and property owners. This plan, as it is right now, doesn’t seem to do that.
I hope the City Council reconsiders approving this ordinance. If they pass it the way it is now, it could hurt the very people it’s supposed to help. Let’s work together to find a better solution that keeps homes safe without driving up costs or chasing away the people who provide places to live. If you are concerned about this program, please make your views about Ordinance Number 279-2025 regarding rental housing unit registration known to the City by contacting the Administrative Services Director/City Clerk at
Mary Benson is a real estate broker with Realty 360 Wine Country. She lives in Lower Lake, California.