The Sites Project Authority voted last week to advance Sites Reservoir into an investment period; the Governor’s office said this signals that a revised water-right permit from the State Water Resources Control Board can support a viable reservoir. The State Water Board is scheduled to consider the final permit on November 4; that hearing is a required step before construction can begin, according to the release.

The Governor’s office described the project’s planned size and capabilities; the release says Sites Reservoir would hold up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water, which the office says is enough to supply over 4.5 million homes for a year. The release also says the reservoir would capture Sacramento River flood flows, provide recreation for an anticipated 187,000 visitors annually, send water to named wildlife refuges, and deliver up to 200,000 acre-feet for use during emergency-declared droughts.

The state has committed additional funding; the release says Governor announced nearly $269 million for Sites earlier this year and that the project is eligible for a total of $1.363 billion in Water Storage Investment Program funding from Proposition 1 and Proposition 4. The release also says the administration streamlined judicial review under CEQA and that a legal challenge to the project’s environmental review was swiftly defeated.

The release frames Sites as part of a broader climate response; it cites a State Water Project Adaptation Strategy and states California could lose 10% of its water supply by 2040 due to hotter, drier conditions, and that State Water Project reliability could fall by as much as 23%. The Governor’s office also noted a recent state of emergency proclamation to prepare for a potentially historic El Niño season.

State

Gavin Newsom

Governor · Democrat

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