BREAKING: USDA Secretary Rollins to Potter Valley Community: “You Are Not Alone…The Trump Administration Is Listening”
Citing threats to farmers and rural communities, Rollins accuses state leaders of prioritizing “special interests and political ambition.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has responded to a community’s request that the federal government intervene in the planned removal of the Potter Valley Project, two Northern California dams that supply water to 600,000 people. Her letter is addressed to Dr. Rich Brazil, director and chairman of the grassroots group “Save the Potter Valley Project.”
“I want you to know you are not alone in this righteous fight, which strikes at the very heart of our freedoms,” Rollins says. “The Trump administration is listening, and we are committed to working across the government to protect Potter Valley’s water supply and the communities and prime farmland that it serves.”
The community’s letter, sent September 29, was signed by over 900 residents, including leaders, farmers, ranchers, tribal members, and firefighters in the Eel and Russian River communities.
Secretary Rollins expresses agreement with their concerns and promises the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will “actively engage.” She says her agency will “demand compliance” with the Farmland Protection Policy Act, which “requires lead agencies across the federal government to evaluate for and mitigate any adverse impacts on farmland.”
“Unfortunately, for years, under the radical leadership of the state of California, the needs of fish have been treated as though they are more important than the needs of farmers and ranchers who are the nation’s original conservationists,” she says.
Rollins: California puts “special interests and political ambition” over “farmers, ranchers, and communities”
Rollins says the USDA plans to file comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding how dam removal could impact both local agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) ability to fight fires.
“It breaks my heart and gravely concerns me that our nation’s largest food producing state has chosen special interests and political ambition over its local farmers, ranchers, and communities, and in doing so threatens the nation,” she says. “The heavy hand of California’s government has gone unchecked for decades, resulting in burned out cities and landscapes, perpetuating manmade water crises, and widening the socioeconomic divide. It has gone unchecked to the detriment of us all. Under the Trump Administration, that stops now.”
FERC is reviewing two requests from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the power utility that owns and operates the Potter Valley Project. PG&E has requested permission to not just walk away from the hydroelectric project, but to demolish it at ratepayer expense. PG&E is separately asking for permanent water cuts on Potter Valley farmers. The public has until December 19 to submit their comments to FERC.
Text of the full letter from Secretary Rollins, and a downloadable version, is published below.
Secretary Brooke L. Rollins
Washington, D.C. 20250December 5, 2025
RICH BRAZIL
Director
Save Potter Valley Project
PO Box 16
Potter Valley, CA 95469Dear Director Brazil,
Thank you for your September 29 letter from over 920 residents with grave concerns about the proposed surrender and decommissioning plan for the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project. I share many of your concerns.
The proposed decommissioning of the Scott and Cape Horn Dams will have a profoundly negative and irreversible impact on local farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers. These closures will effectively cut off any access to the lifeblood those producers need to feed the country and world: water. It’s also apparent that it would leave families vulnerable to more droughts and wildfire.
For over a hundred years, legacy farmers in Potter Valley have put this water to beneficial use after first using it to generate electricity. This has been a symbiotic relationship between farmers, power generators, and the environment. Unfortunately, for years, under the radical leadership of the state of California, the needs of fish have been treated as though they are more important than the needs of the farmers and ranchers who are the nation’s original conservationists. The rural communities need water access to survive, yet California continues to ignore the needs of the very people who are the most connected to the land and water.
It breaks my heart and gravely concerns me that our nation’s largest food producing state has chosen special interests and political ambition over its local farmers, ranchers, and communities, and in doing so threatens the nation. The heavy hand of California’s government has gone unchecked for decades, resulting in burned out cities and landscapes, perpetuating manmade water crises, and widening the socioeconomic divide. It has gone unchecked to the detriment of us all. Under the Trump Administration, that stops now.
Your letter mentions a number of legal and regulatory failures that deserve to be addressed. This includes the elimination of water supply to local communities without viable alternatives; the negative impact that removal will have on water quality and drinking water safety for downstream communities, farms, and ecosystems; and the diminished capacity for wildland firefighting in one of the most fire-prone regions of the country. The Trump administration will be considering each one of these carefully as we analyze the proposed surrender and decommissioning plan.
A government by the people should before the people. As you may be aware, the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued two notices, Project Number 77-3 18 and 77-332, related to the decommissioning plan. Rest assured that we will actively engage to ensure this plan’s strict compliance with the law. The United States Department ofAgriculture will demand compliance with the Farmland Protection Policy Act, which requires lead agencies across the federal government to evaluate for and mitigate any adverse impacts on farmland. We also plan on filing comments regarding its potential impacts on agriculture and the forest service’s ability to fight fires.
I want you to know you are not alone in this righteous fight, which strikes at the very heart of our freedoms. The Trump administration is listening, and we are committed to working across the government to protect Potter Valley’s water supply and the communities and prime farmland that it serves.
Sincerely,
Brooke Rollins
Secretary of Agriculture
