Posts

California’s Largest New Reservoir Likely To Face Water-Access Limits

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt Weiser

Sites Reservoir, the largest new water storage proposal in California, recently won a commitment of $816 million in state funds to help with construction. It promises to deliver enough water every year, on average, to serve 1 million homes. But regulatory realities looming in the background may mean the project has substantially less water at its disposal. The project would inundate an oak-studded valley 8 miles west of Maxwell, a town on Interstate-5 about a 90-minute drive north of Sacramento. For a total construction cost of $5.1 billion, the shallow Sites Reservoir could store 1.8million acre-feet of water.

Full Story

OPINION: Long Road Still Ahead To Fund New California Water Storage Projects

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Jay Lund

The California Water Commission recently allocated $2.7 billion from Proposition 1 bonds for eight water storage projects. Proposition 1 was passed in 2014 to fund a range of projects, including the “public purposes” of water storage projects, such as for ecosystem support, flood risk reduction, water quality, recreation and emergency response. Among its many funding provisions, both surface and underground water storage projects were eligible, nonstorage projects were not eligible and Proposition 1 could fund no more than 50 percent of storage project costs. Proposition 1’s storage provisions were driven by the still common notion that expanding surface storage is the major way to end water problems.

Full Story

Largest Bay Area Dam Built In 20 Years Is Finally Finished

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

After toiling away in the remote hills east of Interstate 680 on the Alameda-Santa Clara county line for seven years, hundreds of construction workers have finally finished the largest dam built in the Bay Area in 20 years. The 220-foot tall dam at Calaveras Reservoir — as high as the roadway on the Golden Gate Bridge soars above San Francisco Bay — replaces a dam of the same size, built in 1925.  State dam inspectors flagged the older dam in 2001 as at risk of collapse in a major earthquake on the nearby Calaveras Fault. If it had failed, state officials estimated it could have sent a 30-foot wall of water into Fremont and neighboring communities, potentially killing thousands of people.

Full Story

$823 Million, 31 Billion-Gallon Calaveras Reservoir Dam Ready For Debut

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Dominic Fracassa

After nearly two decades of planning and construction in the rolling, sun-baked hills of the Sunol Valley, crews are finishing a new, $823 million dam that will be the showpiece of a major overhaul to the Bay Area’s water delivery system. At the northernmost tip of the Calaveras Reservoir, the clatter and roar of heavy machinery fills the air as earthmovers and bulldozers, cutting deep treads in soft soil, line the dam’s sloping walls with riprap — big chunks of blueschist rock blasted off a nearby hillside that will defend the earthen structure against erosion.

Full Story

Reps. Denham, Costa Bring Water Storage To The Valley

/in , /by /Turlock Journal (Turlock)by Angelina Martin

The last large-scale water storage facility to be built in California was constructed in 1979, and now, almost 40 years later, the drought-stricken state will receive funding for projects to help secure its water supply thanks to two local representatives. Valley Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) and Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) made sure that America’s Water Infrastructure Act, which passed the House last Thursday, included provisions that will support local irrigation districts and water agencies in their effort to improve and expand water projects throughout the state.

Full Story

As Storms Worsen, America’s Aging Dams Overflow

/in , /by /CBS Newsby Ed Leefeldt

More than 80,000 people in the mountain community of Lynchburg, Virginia, were at risk, and 120 families evacuated, when rising waters from nearby College Lake reecently threatened to overflow its outdated dam. Although calamity was averted when the water receded, the incident was a frightening reminder of the growing risk facing millions of Americans. The average age of the 90,580 dams located across the U.S is 56 years, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Worryingly, more than 15,000 of them are considered “high hazard” and – like the Lynchburg dam built in the 1930s – need to be repaired or replaced.

Full Story

OPINION: To Prepare For Climate Change, California Is Making A Huge Investment In Water Storage

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Armando Quintero and Carol Baker

On Tuesday, the California Water Commission completed a groundbreaking process to make the state’s largest investment in water storage in a generation. With the commission’s action, eight diverse projects around the state are in line to receive nearly $2.7 billion from Proposition 1, approved by voters in 2014. These projects – including $816 million for the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento – could add 4.3 million acre-feet of new water storage both above and below ground, better preparing California for climate change and drought.

Full Story

OPINION: New California Water Storage? About Time

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

It has long been plain that California must do a better job of capturing rainfall and melting snow by adding water storage. Yet for decades, governors, lawmakers and bureaucrats have struggled to agree on funding for new or expanded dams or reservoirs — even as the state’s population has grown amid droughts from 25 million in 1982 to 40 million now.

Full Story

California Funds New Dams To Protect Against Future Drought

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

For the first time since California’s dam-building boom ended nearly a half century ago, state officials on Tuesday approved a windfall of cash for new water storage projects, setting the stage for at least a mini-resurgence of reservoir construction. The historic $2.7 billion of voter-approved bond money will go to elevating two Bay Area dams, at Los Vaqueros Reservoir near Livermore and Pacheco Reservoir east of Gilroy, as well as to the development of two much larger dams in the Central Valley. Funds also will go to four less traditional endeavors that store water underground.

Full Story

$1 Billion Coming To Bay Area For Two New Dams

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

During California’s recent five-year drought, it was common to hear people asking why the state doesn’t build more dams. On Tuesday, flush with cash from voters, the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to finally do just that, committing nearly $1 billion to build two huge dam projects in the Bay Area, and another $1.5 billion for six more big water projects from the Sacramento Valley to Bakersfield. The California Water Commission, whose eight members are appointed by the governor, will likely vote to fund $2.5 billion overall for the eight projects — four new dams and four groundwater storage proposals.

Full Story