AREA IMPACTS
Potter Valley
The proposed decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project could have serious consequences for the valley, where dry-season diversion water supports local agriculture and helps recharge the aquifer relied on by domestic wells. Without this water, many residents could face water shortages, while farms, property values, and local wildfire protection could also be affected.
Agriculture & Irrigation
Since completion of the Project, dry season irrigation water from the diversion has produced not only a flourishing agricultural industry but has also proven essential for recharging the local aquifer upon which domestic wells within the valley depend.
Without this water, it is anticipated that half or more of all domestic wells within the irrigation district will go dry during Summer and Fall.
Domestic Wells & Property
The unique “fractured aquifer” that characterizes the valley, as well as a complete absence of any other water source or existing municipal water system, means that not only would agriculture, the primary industry of valley residents, be severely impacted, but many homes and properties within the valley would also be left without any source of dry-season water.
Clearly, property values within the valley will be dramatically impacted, and current real estate values within Potter Valley already reflect this expectation.
Wildfire Prevention
This two-minute reel by PG&E, created in the wake of the deadly “Redwood Complex Fire” in 2017, demonstrates PG&E’s appreciation for the significance of diversion water to Potter Valley residents.
As PG&E spokesman Mike Evans states concerning the potential loss of the diversion,
“It would have been devastating to the valley. There could have been, you know, millions of dollars of crops lost; the drinking water’s gone.”
Further commenting on the local volunteer firefighters who protected the Diversion Tunnel, Evans explains,
“Fortunately, with our local Potter Valley Fire Department, they’re all volunteers; they have an interest in the valley; they know the importance of this water. They protected it very well. It was extremely impressive on the backlighting that they did. They completely saved our facility.”
In appreciation, PG&E President and CEO, Nick Stravropaolos, hand-delivered a $25,000 donation to the Potter Valley Fire Department.
The Redwood Complex Fire
This fire, which resulted in the deaths of nine residents, was eventually determined to have been caused by faulty PG&E equipment infrastructure and vegetation management practices.
At an April 2026 Potter Valley Irrigation District meeting, the oldest irrigation district in the State of California, the largest crowd in district history gathered on short notice to vigorously protest the removal of the dams of the PVP.
For Potter Valley the decommissioning plan calling for the complete cessation of dry season diversion water through the valley poses an existential crisis.