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This Reservoir on the Sacramento River Has Been Planned for Decades. What’s Taking So Long?

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Alastair Bland

Last century, California built dozens of large dams, creating the elaborate reservoir system that supplies the bulk of the state’s drinking and irrigation water. Now state officials and supporters are ready to build the next one.

The Sites Reservoir — planned in a remote corner of the western Sacramento Valley for at least 40 years — has been gaining steam and support since 2014, when voters approved Prop. 1, a water bond that authorized $2.7 billion for new storage projects.

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Opinion: Liz Writes Life: California’s Drought Is an Alarming Problem

/in , , /by /The Siskiyou Daily Newsby Liz Bowen

No rain or snow in January and February certainly added to the drought in California. L.A. Times reporter Ian James reported on Feb. 24 that many farmers in the federal Central Valley Project will not receive water from the federal system this year. In mid-February, the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced a zero-water allocation for many irrigation districts that supply farmers throughout the Central Valley. Makes one wonder: Where our food will be grown?

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OPINION: Why California Needs Another Water Bond in 2020

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly (Sacramento)by Jon Christensen

The California Legislature is currently considering several proposals to put a $4 billion bond measure on a 2020 ballot for safe drinking water, drought preparation, wildfire prevention, and climate resilience. An $8.9 billion bond initiative has also been filed by environmental advocates.

Many Californians might ask, “Didn’t we already pay for that?”

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Munis Strong As Fed Keeps Rates Steady

/in , /by /The Bond Buyer (New York)by Chip Barnett Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Municipal bond buyers spent most of Wednesday in a defensive stance as the Federal Reserve met to decide the course of monetary policy. The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 2.25% to 2.5%. The Fed “will be patient as it determines what future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate may be appropriate to support” a strong labor market and inflation near 2%,” the FOMC said in a statement.

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Defeat Of Water Bond Imperils Desert Community Of Borrego Springs

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones

It’s back to square one for the desert community of Borrego Springs, which is facing the daunting task of reducing its consumption of water by at least 75 percent in the coming decades. Mostly lost in the hubbub surrounding the Nov. 6 election was the defeat of Proposition 3, an $8.8 billion state water bond. Had it passed, Borrego Springs would have received $35 million to fallow most of the 3,800 acres of citrus and other farms in the northern part of the community.

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$9 Billion California Water Bond Trailing In Early Returns

/in , /by /The Associated Pressby Don Thompson

Californians were leaning against borrowing $9 billion for water projects Tuesday in a state where water scarcity often pits city dwellers, farmers, anglers and environmentalists against one another. About 53 percent of voters opposed Proposition 3 with about 3.6 million votes counted. The bond measure devoted money to storage and dam repairs, watershed and fisheries improvements, and habitat protection and restoration. Much of the $8.9 billion was earmarked for conservancies and state parks to restore and protect watersheds, and to nonprofits and local agencies for river parkways.

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Water Bond Would Spread Money Across The State — But Pour It On The Central Valley

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

Excessive groundwater pumping by San Joaquin Valley farmers has caused a stretch of the Friant-Kern Canal to sink so much that it has interfered with irrigation deliveries to more than 300,000 acres of cropland. A fix could come from Proposition 3, the water bond on the November ballot, which earmarks $750 million in state taxpayer funds to repair the aqueduct and other infrastructure damaged by land subsidence.

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The $8.9 Billion California Water Bond That Has Environmentalists Divided

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Amel Ahmed

California voters in November will decide whether or not to approve a controversial $8.9 billion bond measure for water-related projects like groundwater storage, water treatment and restoring protected habitats.

The measure, Proposition 3, has divided the environmental community and drawn criticism from local newspapers, who say it would benefit wealthy farmers and agribusiness.

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Local Water-Storage Project May Benefit From State Water Bond Measure

/in , /by /Daily Bulletin (Rancho Cucamonga)by Sandra Emerson

An Inland Empire water wholesaler is poised to get a boost in state funding for its effort to create a new local water supply that would provide ecological benefits in Northern California. The California Water Commission has tentatively approved nearly $207 million in Prop. 1 water bond funds for the Inland Empire Utilities Agency’s Chino Basin Conjunctive Use Environmental Water Storage/Exchange Program.

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New Set Of Scores Released For Water Bond Projects

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Steve Schoonover

Water storage projects seeking money from Proposition 1 got another round of scoring Friday from the California Water Commission staff, adding a little more clarity to what will get how much. Proposition 1, a water bond measure passed in November 2014, included $2.7 billion for new water storage in the state. Twelve projects initially sought a share of that money, including Sites Reservoir, a proposed 1.8 million acre-foot off-stream reservoir west on Maxwell in Colusa County.

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