Sites Reservoir earns $816 million in Proposition 1 funding

SACRAMENTO – Nearly four years after voters approved billions of dollars for new water storage in California, the state finally announced how the pie would be divided.

Sites Reservoir in Colusa County, west of Maxwell, will get the largest chunk.

The proposed reservoir has been on the drawing boards since last century. It’s the largest and most expensive proposal of the eight projects considered by the California Water Commission on Tuesday. It received the largest award, too – $816 million.

The proposed off-stream reservoir, which would fill with Sacramento River water with the help of canals during high winter and spring runoff, is estimated to cost $5.2 billion to build. Even before the Proposition Firefighter Bobby Gardner and Battalion Chief Kyle Heggstrom enjoy helping other communities when responding to statewide wildland fires, but they say they’ve seen fires starting to burn faster and for longer. 1 money awarded Tuesday, the Sites management agency said it had enough commitments from water users to get the project built.

The bigger concern is lawsuits, which in California are likely to greet any effort to build a new reservoir.

The Water Commission approved $2.5 billion in water storage funding on an 8-0 vote. Four of the projects were for new or expanded reservoirs. Four were for groundwater storage.

Other funding commitments for reservoirs included $171 million for Temperance Flat Reservoir on the San Joaquin River, a fraction of the total cost of $2.6 billion; $459 million for Los Vaqueros in Contra Costa County, which will pay about half the total price tag; and $485 million The community of Sites in the Antelope Valley west of Maxwell, which encompasses land in both Colusa and Glenn counties is the footprint for the proposed Sites Reservoir.

to replace and expand the Pacheco Reservoir Dam in Santa Clara County, which also will pay about half the total cost.

The groundwater projects were in Sacramento and San Bernardino counties, and two in Kern County.

Agustin Arriaga-barajas, 24, of the 1500 block of Campbell Road, Live Oak, was arrested by the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office at 11:38 p.m. in the 2900 block of Riviera Road. He was booked into Sutter County Jail. Armando Gutierrez Jr., 47, of...