The Round Valley Indian Tribes were not invited to a White House meeting on Monday that convened federal agriculture and interior officials, PG&E, and a Southern California water district to discuss the future of the Eel River. The tribe holds senior federal reserved water rights on that river, which predate California's water system and take priority over most other claims during shortages.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called the meeting, which also included Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and representatives from the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, according to Round Valley officials. The subject was the Potter Valley Project, a hydroelectric complex on the Eel River that PG&E has moved to decommission.
Round Valley Indian Tribes President Joseph Parker expressed deep concern over the lack of government-to-government consultation. "Her decision not to engage in government-to-government consultation prior to taking these actions is deeply troubling," Parker said.
The tribe has spent years working with Russian River water users on the Two-Basin Solution, a plan to allow salmon recovery on the Eel while maintaining water flows to communities dependent on diversions from the north. Parker warned that the administration's inclusion of a Southern California district without notifying the tribe threatens to unravel that agreement.
The Elsinore district's internal memos suggest it could control 50,000 acre-feet of Eel River water annually, which it could sell at a steep markup. However, PG&E records show actual annual diversions averaged about 40,000 acre-feet in recent years, with a downward trend.
Federal filings project a replacement facility capacity of about 7,900 acre-feet per year.
The district serves over 163,000 people in Southern California, more than 500 miles from the Eel River. Internal documents indicate the district planned to buy water rights cheaply and sell the water back to existing users at a significant profit.
Elsinore director Darcy Burke valued the rights at $400 million, based on selling 50,000 acre-feet annually at $8,000 per acre-foot—more than 200 times what local farmers currently pay. The overall value was estimated as high as $850 million.
In December, Elsinore filed formal opposition to PG&E's decommissioning plan with federal regulators, citing the Safe Drinking Water Act and California's Human Right to Water as grounds for blocking decommissioning. The filing did not mention the district's financial analyses or interest in acquiring the project.
The Potter Valley Project's history with Round Valley is fraught. The dams were built over a century ago without tribal consent, diverting Eel River water into the Russian River basin.
The tribe received nothing from the arrangement but lives daily with its adverse effects, Parker said.
PG&E's decision to decommission the project opened a window to restore salmon runs on the Eel and address historical grievances. Round Valley wants restoration to proceed without abandoning Russian River communities, which is the goal of the Two-Basin Solution.
However, the tribe insists it must be at the table for any lasting arrangement.
"The future of the Eel and Russian rivers should be decided by the people who live along them and depend on them, not brokered in Washington between political appointees and outside interests," said Charlie Schneider, connectivity program manager for California Trout, a Two-Basin Solution partner.
Parker emphasized that the tribe is prepared to assert its senior federal reserved water and fishing rights to defend the Two-Basin Solution. As of Wednesday, Secretary Rollins had not reached out to the tribe.