… Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X on Tuesday that talks are underway with a Riverside County water district to take over the Potter Valley hydroelectric project owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. … The post immediately raised a host of questions about a Southern California entity’s play for a Northern California water project. … The news also put more distance between parties who have for years labored to ensure Eel River diversions for farms and residents in Mendocino and Sonoma counties continue once the dams are torn down and those behind more nascent attempts to keep the dams, despite PG&E’s move to abandon them and eventually see them torn down.

Other Potter Valley Project news:

• Times-Standard (Eureka, Calif.): Huffman: Federal Potter Valley intervention could be catastrophic for Northern California water
• Lost Coast Outpost (Eureka, Calif.): That SoCal water agency says it’s just in the very initial, exploratory phase of its potential bid to take over the Eel River dams
• The Ukiah Daily Journal (Calif.): PG&E reports receiving no new proposal to buy the Potter Valley Project
• Redheaded Blackbelt (Susanville, Calif.): Feds float late-stage idea to keep Eel River dams as removal plan moves forward