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OPINION: Building Sites Reservoir Will Never Pencil Out or Produce Much Water

The Sacramento Bee editorial promoting construction of Sites reservoir noted that it would cost $3 billion to $4 billion (“State needs to invest in Sites reservoir”; Editorials, Dec. 27).

 

Proposals to build Sites have been put forth since the 1940s, and none have gotten past a drawing board. No study has ever shown that the project makes economic sense. Even Don Hodel, President Ronald Reagan’s interior secretary, said the Sites project would never pencil out.

 

Sites reservoir would add a little more than 1 percent to the state’s storage capacity.

Amid Drought, Los Angeles Looks To Upgrade ‘Swamp Coolers’

Old-school cooling systems on the roofs of larger Los Angeles buildings may be wasting billions of gallons of water each year.

The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday (http://tinyurl.com/zarkqn9) that some of these “swamp coolers” are so inefficient they can use as much water as all the bathrooms, drinking fountains and kitchens in the buildings below.

As California’s drought persists, officials are looking to supplement savings already won when property owners ripped out lawns or installed water-miserly appliances.