{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Inland water budgeting for water right, study to raise dam","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":389,"description":"June 1, 2022 — As another dry summer heats up, the Board of Supervisors is considering asking voters to approve a sales tax for local fire districts and county-wide water projects. \r\nThe tax for Measure B is due to decrease this year, and the Board hopes voters will agree to replace that reduction with the new tax, which is expected to generate about $7 million per year. \r\nAt a meeting in mid-May, firefighters and Russian River water users expressed their support for the tax, though details about how to allocate the funds and the exact size of the need were not part of the initial discussion. \r\nThe Inland Water and Power Commission is eyeing some of the potential money as it works to take over water rights associated with the Potter Valley Project. The rights are currently held by PG&E, the project’s owner. Commission Chair Janet Pauli is preparing for an expensive and convoluted process\r\nThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has directed PG&E to begin the license surrender process. “That is going to be lengthy,” Pauli predicted. “We don’t know exactly how it’s going to unfold. We do know there are certain sections of that process that are going to require a lot of our participation, so that we can have a voice in what is going to occur with this project. That is going to require some funding.” Pauli added that there has not been consideration of a CDFW-funded study that examined several possible ways to continue diverting water without the current infrastructure. “If the diversion structure comes out, if that’s the final disposition of the license surrender, then we have a very, very, very serious problem,” she said, citing the conclusion that, without water from the diversion, Lake Mendocino would not fill in eight out of ten years.\r\nThe Commission was part of a consortium that tried to take over the license for the Potter Valley Project, though it fell far short of its funding goals. In addition, it was supposed to form a regional entity that would...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}