AREA IMPACTS
Humboldt County
The removal of Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury could significantly impact the Eel River by reducing dry-season water flows, releasing accumulated sediment, and eliminating cold water flows essential to salmonids.
Dry Season Water Flows
Approximately 80 % of the water captured by Scott Dam/Lake Pillsbury during Winter months is not diverted to the Russian River, but continues down the Eel to maintain both the Upper Eel below Dos Rios and the Main Branch of the Eel during the dry season.
With removal of this dry season water source long stretches of the Eel will return to frequently being dry during the Summer and Fall.
Sediment, Salmonid Recovery & Cold Water Flows
Removal of Scott Dam is also expected to release the estimated 40 million cubic yards of toxic silt and sediments that have accumulated in the lake during the past century (link to City of Rio Dell’s FERC comments).
This is sufficient material to bury the entire 172 mile length of the main Branch of the Eel River from Scott Dam to the Pacific Ocean a foot deep in sediments and will adversely impact salmonid spawning and recovery for decades to come.
Both the increased sediment and decreased water flows are also expected to negatively impact both summer recreation along the Main Branch of the Eel as well as create a significant threat to the municipal water districts operating along the river
Additionally, removal of Scott Dam will forever eliminate the cold water flows exiting Lake Pillsbury that “Friends of the Eel” and other environmental groups describe as essential to the health of developing salmonids in the Eel.
The removal of Scott Dam could reduce dry-season flows, release accumulated sediment, and eliminate cold-water flows, threatening salmonids, recreation, and municipal water supplies along the Eel River.