The Office of the Governor said the State Water Resources Control Board approved the final water-right permit for the Sites Reservoir, clearing the project’s last regulatory hurdle and putting construction within reach.
The governor’s office said Sites Reservoir would add 1.5 million acre-feet of storage and is sited in Glenn and Colusa counties; the office said that capacity is enough to supply more than 4.5 million homes for one year.
According to the governor’s office, the reservoir is designed to capture eligible high flows from the Sacramento River during wet periods and store them for dry years; because Sites sits off the river, the office said it will not block fish migration or spawning.
The office said all regulatory approvals are complete and that the state has made major funding commitments, including nearly $269 million announced in June that bring the project’s total eligible state funding to approximately $1.36 billion; the Sites Project Authority and participating water agencies must now advance financing needed to begin construction.
The governor’s office listed the project’s intended benefits as flood-management gains, dedicated deliveries to wildlife refuges, up to 200,000 acre-feet for emergency drought use, and new recreation estimated at about 187,000 annual visitors.
“Our water system was built for a climate that no longer exists,” said California Secretary for Natural Resources in the governor’s release; Governor added, “Now it’s time to get shovels in the ground.”
The governor’s release also cited state projections that California could lose about 10% of its water supply by 2040 and that reliability of the State Water Project could decline by as much as 23%; the release presented Sites as part of a broader strategy of storage, conservation, and habitat actions the administration has pursued since 2019.
State
Wade Crowfoot
Secretary for Natural Resources
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Region 5 Photography, USDA Forest Service / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
Sources & methodology
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