PRESS DEMOCRAT - January 14, 2024

Letter to the Editor

EDITOR: Congressman Jared Huffman wrote about opportunities to invest tens of billions of dollars for a sustainable water future and billions more for repairing old crumbling water infrastructure (“Investing in sustainable sources of water,” Dec. 31).

Great that our water infrastructure is being addressed, but Huffman is one of the advocates for removing Scott Dam, which creates Lake Pillsbury, and Cape Horn Dam, which creates Van Arsdale reservoir, aka the Potter Valley Project. Why remove a water system that has been in place for over a century, a system that sustains our communities? The water is vital to Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties.

Currently the most widely accepted plan is to divert water from the Eel River only during “high flows.” With no high flows and no reservoirs, science and common sense tells us that the Russian River will go dry.

Use the tens of billions of dollars for infrastructure improvements to help fish migration, keep the dams, keep the reservoirs, store valuable water and use it sustainably. Huffman wants to remove these reservoirs and dams rather than upgrading and repairing them.

The economic impact of dam removal is overwhelming, as well as the impact it will have on each of us, our communities and the environment.

Pay attention to who you vote into office.

PAT BURNS

Healdsburg