Congressman opens investigation into Trump administration's involvement in California dam removal

A Northern California member of Congress is opening an inquiry into the Trump administration's bid to stop dam removal on the Eel River, citing potential legal, environmental, economic and water-supply problems.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, wants details on why Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is advocating for a Southern California water agency to buy the century-old Potter Valley hydroelectric project in Mendocino and Lake counties, including its two dams, and continue operating it.

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Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the owner, is in the process of retiring the complex because of its worsening condition, saying it's no longer viable. Many in the region support dismantling the project and its dams as a way to restore the Eel River and the dwindling salmon runs there.

While Rollins has said she's interested in preserving the dams to provide water for local agriculture, her plan to get a new operator, unveiled last week, came as a huge surprise to most in Northern California, with numerous questions. Among them is whether it's even possible to transfer ownership of the hydroelectric project since the decommissioning is already underway and, perhaps more curiously, what a water agency in Riverside County, more than 500 miles away, wants with the Eel River.

"My concern is that this is part of a bigger water play," Huffman told the Chronicle. "There's something going on here. There's also a history here that can't be divorced from this moment: Folks in Southern California and the Central Valley have had their eye on Eel River water for a long time."

On Tuesday, Huffman submitted a series of questions and a call for records to Rollins, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, the agency that Rollins named as a potential buyer. Huffman wants responses to his queries on their interest and activities in Northern California by May 12.

"They have told us almost nothing about a proposal for something that would be really extraordinary and controversial," Huffman said.

The Potter Valley Project was built to generate power for a large swath of Northern California. But just as important, the project has provided water, specifically capturing flows on the Eel River and moving them to the Russian River, where they've supported communities in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties as well as the region's bustling vineyards and wine industry.

While a new agency is being created to continue at least some of the water exports from the Eel River to the Russian River, many remain opposed to the project's retirement.

Some have asked the Trump administration to intervene.

Since last summer, Rollins has taken to social media to criticize PG&E for shuttering the facilities, citing the loss of irrigation water for farmers. But this month she went a step further, posting on X that she had been in conversation with the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District about buying and running the Potter Valley Project.

"This would allow @POTUS and @SecretaryBurgum to restart/expand reliable hydroelectric electric generation while keeping both (dams) in place. I hope @PGE4Me is taking them seriously!" she wrote.

The Department of Agriculture has declined to discuss the plan put forth by Rollins. The Elsinore Valley district has confirmed that it's exploring possibilities for new water supplies in the region but has offered no details. The agency is relatively small, serving about 160,000 people.

Adding to the confusion, the Eel River is not connected to the State Water Project or another intrastate pipeline that could transport water long distances.

Furthermore, PG&E officials say it's too late for someone to resume hydroelectric operations and that any bid to continue running pieces of the project, such as the dams, would need approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

While many cities and farms in the Russian River basin were initially concerned about the demise of the project, particularly the prospect of losing water, most are now resigned to a future without the facilities.

Huffman is among those who have worked to help communities cope with the change, namely by securing a deal to continue a portion of the Eel River water exports to the Russian River, through the newly created Eel-Russian Project Authority.

Sonoma Water, which has long relied on the Eel River to serve more than 600,000 people, is helping run the new agency.

Now, however, Huffman worries that the region's agreed-upon path forward could unravel with the Trump administration's plan to continue operations of the Potter Valley Project.

"My first instinct was: no need to take this seriously," Huffman said, referring to the obstacles that a new operator would face in running the project. "But I think you have to take this seriously. … There are enough red flags waving that I worry about some unthinkable scenario. That's why I'm demanding this information and planning to press ahead until I get answers."

Huffman, a ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, has limited authority to enforce his demands since his party is in the minority in Congress. But he's hoping his committee position will provide enough leverage to motivate responses.

If not, he said, he expects Democrats to retake the majority in November and he'll become chair of the Natural Resources Committee, giving him greater investigative power.

"My message to the Trump administration and anyone else involved in this (water plan) is you need to come clean," he said. "And if that's a problem, it's going to be a bigger problem at this time next year."

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 7:05 PM.