Lesson Objective: Students will look at a specific issue in their region that illustrates how federalism works and how change is made. They will analyze who the stakeholders in the controversy are, who has the decision-making authority and what some of the strengths and weaknesses of the federal system are in context.

In order to illustrate some of the concepts, information and discussion material on the Eel River and Potter Valley Project has been provided. Many other local issues would be appropriate examples to use in order to illustrate the concepts from Lesson Four's discussion.

Explain to the students that in order to understand the federalist system of government and demonstrate some of the strengths and weaknesses of the system, one can analyze a specific local issue in-depth. Material has been provided to use water issues in California as an example. Use the following questions to discuss water issues in our region:

Water is an extremely important resource in the state of California. The availability of water dictates how big a city can grow, what land can be farmed, where industries locate and the health of many fish and wildlife species.

Locally, water availability, flow, regulation and use are all controversial. For example, recent issues and questions in our region include:

• How much "waste" should be put into Humboldt Bay by industries?
• What uses are appropriate for Humboldt Bay?
• Who is responsible for storm water run-off and how should it be cleaned up?
• What flow level is necessary in the Eel River?

Explain to the students that they will now consider the Eel river controversy.

The Potter Valley Project consists of a series of two dams (Cape Horn Dam and Scott Dam), an intake, tunnel, penstock and hydroelectric powerhouse on the Eel River. The Project was begun in 1905 and became operational in 1908. In 1930 PG&E acquired the Potter Valley Project and has owned the project since then.

Teachers may want to make a transparency from a road map that shows the Eel River and the counties through which it travels. The Potter Valley Project serves to transfer water from the Eel River headwaters to the Russian River Basin. Water released from Lake Pillsbury in Lake County travels downstream in the Eel River where a portion is diverted into the project intake at Cape Horn Dam in Mendocino County. Water in the Eel River travels approximately 150 miles northwest before it is let out at the Pacific Ocean in Humboldt County. The water that was diverted at Cape Horn Dam travels through an underground tunnel and penstock to the powerhouse in Potter Valley. The powerhouse can generate up to about 9.4 MW of electricity. After flowing through the turbines in the powerhouse, the diverted water is released into a canal in the Potter Valley. The Potter Valley Irrigation District diverts a portion of the flow from the canal for agricultural irrigation in the Valley. The remainder of the flow is stored in Lake Mendocino before entering the East Branch Russian River. The Sonoma County Water Agency uses the stored water for agriculture, municipal, industrial and recreation purposes.

Chinook, coho and steelhead are all fish species that have traditionally used the Eel River as spawning ground. Over the past 40 years, numbers of each of these species have declined dramatically. The decline has prompted the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list the chinook and coho as threatened species and the steelhead as a candidate for listing.

An endangered species is one that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A threatened species is one that is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Candidate species are plants and animals for which sufficient information on their biological status and threats exist to propose them as endangered or threatened, but for which development of a proposed listing regulation is precluded by other higher priority listing activities. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov.

The cause of the decline of the fish species is under heated debate. Some people argue that the flow reduction due to the Potter Valley Project has caused the fish numbers to decline. Others point to evidence that fish numbers across all North Coast drainages have declined at similar rates, regardless of whether the drainage has been dammed or not. Other causes commonly associated with the declines in the Eel River watershed include: introduction of the non-native Sacramento pike minnow, commercial over-fishing, cyclic variations in ocean productivity, drought, floods, and erosion/sedimentation effects.

The issue being debated is determining what is the proper flow rate for the Eel River. PG&E applied for a 50-year license to operate the Potter Valley Project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A stipulation to granting the license was that a 10-year fisheries monitoring study had to be conducted by PG&E, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of PG&E's proposed flow schedule in protecting and maintaining fishery resources in the Eel and Russian Rivers.

• PG&E. PG&E owns the Potter Valley Project and is interested in having their license renewed. The hydroelectric powerhouse generates a small amount of electricity (9.4 MW) which PG&E can tap into on heavy-use days. The powerhouse is very old and many believe that the cost of operating the powerhouse is greater than the revenue gained from the sale of the electricity.
• Potter Valley Irrigation District (PVID). The PVID represents the interests of the farmers of Potter Valley. They use a portion of the water that is diverted from the Eel River for agriculture in the valley -- mainly grapes to produce wine. The farmers of the valley have been relying on this source of war since the early 1900's and claim that they could not continue to operate without it.
• Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA). The SCWA stores the majority of the water diverted from the Eel River in Lake Mendocino. When needed, the water is fed into the East Branch Russian River to be used for agriculture, industry, recreation and municipalities in Sonoma and Marin counties. The availability of the water is the prime factor in determining how big cities in these counties can grow.
• Wiyot Indians of the Table Bluff Rancheria. The Wiyot Indians of the Humboldt Bay region have traditionally used the river and its resources. They have seen the decline of the fish species and are concerned with protecting their traditional claim to the river and resource.
• Friends of the Eel River. The Friends of the Eel River is a non-profit organization based in Gaberville that claims to speak for thee fish and their right to continued existence. The mission of this organization is "to restore the Eel River and all of her tributaries to a natural state of health and abundance wild and free."

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC is responsible for granting the 50-year license allowing PG&E to operate the Potter Valley Project. The Federal Power Act requires that FERC balance the different competing needs involved with the flow of water from the project. These needs include economic, fishery, endangered species, water use, tribal and recreational issues. According to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) FERC must complete an Environmental Impact Statement describing the affects of the project.
• National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Along with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the NMFS is in charge of regulating threatened and endangered species in the US. NMFS is required under the Endangered Species Act to issue a Biological Opinion regarding the effect of the project on the threatened species.
• California Department of Fish and Game and US Fish and Wildlife Service. These two agencies were required by FERC to cooperate with PG&E to produce the 10-year fisheries monitoring study.

Additional Resource: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission http://www.ferc.fed.us

National Marine Fisheries Service http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov

US Fish and Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov

California Department of Fish and Game http://www.dfg.ca.gov

First, rivers do not follow the neat political boundaries that humans have developed to organize our lives and our government. The Eel River, from headwaters to mouth, travels through watersheds in Trinity, Lake, Mendocino, and Humboldt Counties. With the addition of the diversion, Sonoma and Marin counties also become involved.

Second, several government agencies have become involved in monitoring and regulating the fish and wildlife affected by the Eel River. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal agency located within the Department of Interior. The National Marine Fisheries Service is another federal agency, but it is located within the Department of Commerce. The California Department of Fish and Game is a state agency.

The purpose, or mandate, of the government agency may be an important factor in determining the outcome of the conflict. For example, FERC is required by the Federal Power Act to take many factors into consideration when making a decision -- economic, recreational, tribal, etc. NMFS and US Fish and Wildlife, on the other hand, are primarily concerned with the best interest of the fish species. The Sonoma County Water Agency must have the best interest of the people and businesses of Sonoma County in mind when taking their position.

Clearly, the Potter Valley Project controversy is not simply about what's best for the salmon and trout. Some of the interlinking issues include:

• Environment. Protecting the health of the fish populations, the watershed, and the other wildlife that feed on the fish.
• Economic. The agricultural industry (specifically the very lucrative wine industry), the fishing industry in Humboldt County that is harmed by the diversion, and growth pressures in Sonoma and Marin Counties.
• Human/Social. The traditional rights of Native Americans and the recreational uses of the Russian River.

The strength of the solution to this controversy will rest in the ability of the decision-makers to balance these components.

Students have examined one local controversy in order to see federalism in action. They have considered the background of the controversy, who the stakeholders are, what the interests of each stakeholder are and who has the decision-making authority in the controversy. Students have analyzed some aspects of the controversy as they related to the discussion of the strengths and limitations of federalism. The role of government in fostering change has been evaluated.

The students are now ready to consider the second aspect of fostering change -- the role of the individual in civic society.