• FERC Holds PG&E Accountable for 2023 Butte Canal Failure

    On November 19, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a letter to PG&E about a major canal break and two canal blockages in 2023 at PG&E’s DeSabla-Centerville Hydroelectric Project on Butte Creek. The canal break had extremely damaging environmental effects. FERC’s letter called the canal break “preventable” and deemed it a violation of…

  • A Win for the Bear River: NID Abandons Plans to Build Centennial Dam 

    On September 25, 2024, the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) Board of Directors voted four to one to abandon its proposed Centennial Dam Project. The resolution was brought forward by NID staff, who had analyzed years of data and determined that the proposed project would be too costly and ineffective in supplying additional water to meet…

  • California Public Utilities Commission Denies PG&E Application for Transfer of Assets: A Big Win for CSPA

    On May 9, 2024, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) denied an application for transfer of assets filed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and its subsidiary, Pacific Generation. This decision is a win for the California Hydropower Reform Coalition (CHRC) of which California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) is an active member. CHRC challenged…

  • CSPA comments on scoping for relicensing the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project

    CSPA presented oral scoping comments on June 28, 2017 for the relicensing of the Potter Valley Project in Mendocino and Lake counties.  The small 1900’s-era hydroelectric project generates power with water that is piped from the upper mainstem Eel River to the upper Russian River watershed.  The project’s Scott Dam, which forms Lake Pillsbury in…

  • Major CSPA Victory as State Water Board Acts to Protect Spring-Run Salmon in Butte Creek

    On Tuesday, August 2, 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board took an important action to protect the spring-run Chinook salmon in Butte Creek.  Butte Creek contains the only run of spring-run Chinook in the Central Valley that is considered “viable.”  CSPA has been working to protect this keystone run of fish since 2003 and…