The Eel River Dam Removal Was Almost a Done Deal. Now Southern California Wants to Buy Them.
A surprise move from the Trump administration is throwing a new wrinkle into the long-running battle over Northern California’s Eel River dams.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Tuesday that a Southern California water agency has expressed interest in purchasing the Scott Dam in Lake County and Cape Horn Dam in Mendocino County, potentially halting their planned removal. The two dams are owned by PG&E as part of its century-old Potter Valley hydroelectric project, which the utility has been working to decommission.
The agency in question is the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, based in Riverside County, nearly 600 miles from the dams. Rollins floated the idea on social media, framing it as a way to keep the dams operational and protect water supplies for farmers and residents in the Russian River basin. The district confirmed it was exploring options but offered no specifics on how it would utilize water from a river with no connection to any statewide pipeline network.
??? Last year, PG&E filed to surrender its license and begin decommissioning the Potter Valley Project, removing the Scott and Cape Horn Dams because of @GavinNewsom's policy of putting fish over people.
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) April 21, 2026
Last week, I heard from the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District. A… https://t.co/pfuNAkeq44 pic.twitter.com/ZkIXFhXblK
PG&E says it has met with the district but has received no formal proposal, and the company maintains the decommissioning process is already too far along for a sale to be practical. Federal regulators are currently reviewing PG&E’s $350 million dismantling plan.
Critics of Rollins’ proposal were blunt. Friends of the Eel River called the project a money-losing venture no serious buyer would want. Trout Unlimited’s California director noted that water security arrangements are already in place through a newly formed authority set to continue some Eel River diversions after the dams come down.
Tribes, environmentalists, and Governor Newsom have all backed dam removal as critical to restoring the Eel River’s struggling salmon runs.
