With Sites approval, California poised to build biggest water project in 50 years
The State Water Resources Board approved a water rights permit for the Sites Reservoir project on Wednesday, clearing the way for construction of a 13 mile-long, four mile-wide and 260 foot-deep water body in Colusa County near the farming town of Maxwell. Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the approval, in the final months of his tenure, of a historic water project he has pushed for years , as the five board members voted over the strenuous objections of environmental groups , fishing advocacy organizations and tribal members who say their heritage will be buried beneath the 1.5 million acre feet of water Sites is one day projected to hold. The project’s cost is estimated at well above $6 billion. Funding is expected to come from the state, the federal government and financing through water districts that will draw on the reservoir. Newsom cited the rollercoaster water years he’s led the state through as evidence that Sites, the biggest new water project California will embark on building in over 50 years, was necessary. “From 2020 to 2022, California went through its driest three-year period on record, followed by nine atmospheric rivers in just three weeks,” Newsom said. “That’s the reality we’re up
