The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors earlier this week discussed a proposal to remove one of its supervisors from a commission after she attended an event with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, which one board member said could be a conflict of interest.
The board did not end up taking action against Supervisor Madeline Cline, who went to a conference last month headlined by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who has opposed the decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project. Cline represents District 1, which includes Potter Valley.
On Tuesday, supervisors discussed the possibility of unseating Cline from the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, a joint powers authority that works to protect the Russian and Eel river watersheds and ensure Mendocino County’s water sources are safeguarded. The board is working to find solutions, such as creating water storage, once PG&E shutters the Potter Valley Project.
Supervisor John Haschak raised the discussion of removing Cline from the commission after she and Supervisor Bernie Norvell attended the 107th American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in Anaheim on Jan. 12. Rollins was a featured speaker at the conference.
For more than 100 years, the Potter Valley Project, which is owned by PG&E, has diverted water from the Eel River to the Russian River Watershed, supplying water to communities throughout Mendocino and Sonoma counties. This water source has been crucial for agricultural, municipal, and environmental uses.
In 2019, PG&E opted not to relicense the project, saying it was not profitable. As soon as 2028, PG&E plans to decommission the Potter Valley Project, which could help fish restoration on the Eel River but could also decrease water availability and negatively impact local communities.
The project’s decommissioning has caused concern among residents, with farmers and ranchers anxious about losing the crucial water source. However, Native groups such as the Round Valley Indian Tribes are eager to see fish populations restored. The Round Valley Indian Tribes will also have water rights transferred to them under a formal agreement with PG&E.
As a member of the Inland Water and Power Commission, Cline attends meetings, speaks with local farmers, and researches how the community can recover from the removal of the water source.
Haschak expressed concern that Cline’s attendance at the agriculture convention could send a negative message to PG&E and the Round Valley Indian Tribes, and harm the county’s efforts to collaborate with those entities on a solution for everyone.
Rollins, who has been outspoken in her opposition to PG&E’s current plan, sent a letter to the editor to The Mendocino Voice outlining why she disagrees with the removal of the Potter Valley Project.
“Make no mistake. If the decommissioning goes through, hundreds of legacy farms and this area’s rich agricultural heritage will be lost,” Rollins wrote in the letter.
Haschak said during Tuesday’s meeting that Cline’s attendance at the conference was inappropriate.
Cline, who said she used her own funds to fly to Anaheim and attend the conference to hear Rollins’ opinions on the Potter Valley Project, said during the meeting that she did not attend the event to partner with Rollins and took offense to Haschak’s proposal.
“I don’t take lightly the way that this agenda item was brought about, it was extremely accusatory,” she said during the meeting. “I’m embarrassed that it’s a part of our public record.”
Cline said her “goal was to hear the conversation that was being had in that room,” and added, “I do not think I would be doing my job if I would have walked away and turned down that opportunity to talk about why this is important for our future.”
Supervisor Ted Williams said the dispute is essentially between people who want to keep the dam and those who are working on a solution for water storage.
“Supervisor Cline, you have constituents who want the dam left up and think there’s still a possibility. I respect your relationship with your constituents to try to further that,” Williams said.
However, he also mentioned the water rights of the local tribal groups.
“I don’t see any other party having a water right other than the tribe, and so much is riding on that relationship that if somehow even inadvertently we sour that, we don’t have a water future,” he said.
Dozens of people spoke in the public comment portion of the agenda item, many of them calling for Cline to stay on the commission and saying she represented the interests of Potter Valley residents, while some criticized her for participating in a photo with Rollins, a member of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Haschak ended up not making a motion to put his proposal to remove Cline from the commission up for a vote, acknowledging that he did not have support from his colleagues, but again questioned the politics behind the trip to Anaheim.
“It just seems a little disingenuous to say, ‘Oh, this is just a free conversation about our issue,’” he said. “No, they had an agenda they wanted to push, and it was political rhetoric.”
The next Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Feb. 24 in the board chambers at 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah. Meetings can also be watched virtually via Zoom. More information, including agendas, is available at this website.
This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.