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Sites Reservoir Aims to Reshape California’s Water Landscape

Colusa County, California, could soon be home to the largest new reservoir in the state in 50 years. In accordance with the Bureau of Reclamation’s recommendation, Congress greenlit the allocation of $205.6 million in federal funding for the Sites Reservoir Project under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act).

Opinion: This Water Project is Expensive, Wasteful and Ecologically Damaging. Why is It Being Fast-Tracked?

Noah Cross, the sinister plutocrat of the movie
“Chinatown,” remarked that “politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.”

He might have added public works projects to that list: If they get talked about long enough, sometimes they acquire the image of inevitability. That seems to be the case with the Sites Reservoir, a water project in the western Sacramento Valley that originated during the Eisenhower administration.

California Governor Taps New Law to Streamline Reservoir Project

California Governor Gavin Newsom fast-tracked a massive reservoir project Monday using a law he signed this past summer to accelerate construction.

The Sites Reservoir Project near the town of Maxwell, about 81 miles northwest of Sacramento, is slated to hold up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water — enough for 3 million households for a year. Once complete, it’ll increase Northern California’s water capacity by up to 15%.

Biden Administration Dedicates $30M for Sites Reservoir Project

A much-anticipated water storage project in northern California received a major financial commitment from the federal government Monday.

According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Biden Administration has committed $30 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the Sites Reservoir project.

Lawmakers Call on Kern Stakeholders to Engage on Water Investment

Farmers and water managers may need to do more to engage with lawmakers from outside the Central Valley before the state Legislature can be persuaded to make important investments in water storage and other infrastructure projects, members of Kern’s Sacramento delegation told an audience Tuesday of the Water Association of Kern County.

California Drought Resurrects Decades-Old Plan for Controversial Sites Reservoir

A long-dead proposal to flood a bucolic valley north of Sacramento and create a massive reservoir for thirsty Southern California is finding new life — and opposition — amid the effects of climate change and worsening drought.

First conceived in the 1950s, the Sites Reservoir project was abandoned in the 1980s — the twilight years of America’s big Western dam-building projects.

Sen. Nielsen Bill Seeks to Help Sites Reservoir Project

State Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, and Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, introduced a bill last week that would have a significant impact on the Sites Reservoir project in Colusa County.

The bill, Senate Bill 890, is meant to ensure millions of acre-feet of water is stored during wet years instead of being flushed out to sea, a release from California Senate Republicans said.

Sites Reservoir is an off-stream facility proposed north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that captures storm water flows from the Sacramento River for release primarily in dry and critical years, the Appeal previously reported.

Drought-Stricken Western Districts Plan New Ways to Store Water

Driving through the Sacramento valley an hour north of California’s capital, most travelers notice nothing but a few cows grazing on grass scorched brown by the heat. But Jerry Brown, the executive director of the Sites Reservoir Project, sees the future of California’s water system.

San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency Prepared for Another Drought Year

With the dry start to the winter rainy season, the probability of the Pass area entering a multi-year drought is increasing. But that isn’t such a bad thing here due to the fires scorching vegetation, creating instability if it rains and possible flooding said San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency General Manager Lance Eckhart.

Federal Spending Bill Includes Funding for Dam Repairs, Snow Measurement Technology

The proposed federal spending bill for 2021 includes funding for the Oroville Dam, Sites Reservoir Project and new snow measurement technology. If passed by Congress, part of the massive omnibus spending bill would allocate $1 billion towards restoration projects and drought relief efforts.