Advice puts Eel River diversion plan on shelf

by Glenda Anderson
The Press Democrat
March 12, 2008

[excerpt:]
A recently revived proposal to divert water from a protected portion of the Eel River near Dos Rios has been quietly shelved following a negative legal opinion.

"For now, we've put the whole Dos Rios thing on hold," Mendocino County Water Agency chief Roland Sanford said.

. . .

The legal opinion listed expensive obstacles to taking water from a section of the Eel River that has state and federal designations as wild and scenic.

At the least, the project would require an environmental impact report, and it undoubtedly would face legal challenges from environmental groups, according to the opinion by Rossmann and Moore, a San Francisco firm specializing in water and land use.

The opinion echoed issues raised by environmentalists and other critics since the proposal was first raised by Mendocino County Supervisor John Pinches in the 1990s.

. . .

To read the entire article, visit the:
Santa Rosa Press Democrat website

Previous article, October, 2007:
Mendocino revives Eel River water plan

For more information, see:
Gualala River protected by the
California Wild & Scenic Rivers Act