Sites Reservoir: Water for Dry Years
Now more than ever, California needs innovative solutions to ensure we have a sustainable water supply. Our climate has changed, and we need more storage as the West gets drier and hotter to ensure we have enough water to meet our needs.
Sites Reservoir is a unique, multi-benefit water storage project that will capture and store water from major storms, so water is available to California’s communities, farms, and environment during dry periods.
The water that Californians use for drinking, recreating and protecting the environment moves through a system that is arguably the most complex in the world.
Sites Reservoir Benefits
- Reliable dry-year water supply for California’s communities, farms and environment
- Dedicated environmental water for native fish, migratory birds, and their habitats
- Adaptable to climate change
- Contribution to California’s renewable energy goals
- Flood management
- Recreational opportunities
- Job creation, including a large skilled workforce during construction
Sites Reservoir Fast Facts
Creates additional 1.5 million acre-foot off-stream storage for drier periods
Increases Sacramento Valley water storage capacity
Creates reliable supplies for environmental, agricultural, and municipal uses
30 participating agencies representing communities across California
A Part of the Sacramento Valley
Sites Reservoir would be located on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, near Maxwell, California – a rural farming town in Colusa County, approximately 65 miles northwest of Sacramento. The Sacramento Valley is known for its farming community, rich agricultural benefits, and natural beauty. The region’s acres of grassland surrounded by rolling foothills make it an ideal location for off-stream water storage. The proposal is widely supported by local community leaders, residents, as well as state water managers and water agencies from the Bay Area to Southern California.
A 21st Century Water Storage System
Sites Reservoir is a water savings account for dry years. It would capture and store stormwater flows from the Sacramento River—after all other water rights and regulatory requirements are met—and release the water for California communities, farms, and environmental agencies to use when it is desperately needed.
Sites Reservoir complements other major reservoirs like Shasta, Oroville, and Folsom, which function as the backbone to both the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. Sites Reservoir will help optimize water releases from this existing network, greatly increasing the flexibility, reliability and resiliency of statewide water supplies.
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#DidYouKnow: Sites Reservoir operations will coordinate with other Central Valley Project facilities, like Folsom Lake. Water can be exchanged between CVP facilities to supply urban centers, electrical power, recreation, and wildlife habitats.
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Sites Reservoir operations are based on real-time, in-river conditions. Even during drier years, there are times when flows in the Sacramento River are abundant, and water can be safely diverted from the river for storage.
🔗 Learn more at SitesProject.org
As our climate changes, our management of water supplies needs to change, too. Sites Reservoir is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure California communities, farms, and ecosystems can have reliable water now and in the future.
Read more in our blog for @NorcalWater : ow.ly/ZmPj50U2LjI
Sites Reservoir is truly one of a kind. It will be the first and only reservoir in California that captures and stores a large portion of water specifically for environmental purposes.
Visit our website to learn more. #BuildSitesNow #SitesReservoir #CAWater
From water storage and climate resiliency to ecosystem protection and recreation opportunities, Sites Reservoir has broad support because of the significant public benefits it will bring to California. #BuildSitesNow
#DidYouKnow: Sites Reservoir operations will coordinate with other Central Valley Project facilities, like Folsom Lake. Water can be exchanged between CVP facilities to supply urban centers, electrical power, recreation, and wildlife habitats.
Dedicated storage in Sites Reservoir will be allocated to water agencies, irrigation districts, and natural resource agencies across California. With their investment, they’ll be able to increase water resiliency and ensure our communities, farms, and environment can flourish.
Did You Know: Up to one-third of Sites Reservoir’s water supply will be dedicated for environmental purposes?
Federal and state agencies will be able to manage environmental water that can be used to restore habitats and support aquatic and bird species in dry periods.
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As our climate changes, our management of water supplies needs to change, too. Sites Reservoir is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure California communities, farms, and ecosystems can have reliable water now and in the future.
Read more in our blog for Northern California Water: ow.ly/ZmPj50U2LjI
3 CommentsComment on Facebook
I'd rather see a big desalination plant that pumps the water way up into the mountains and let it trickle back down to the streams and rivers and let it fill our underground or aquifers naturally
Build Sites Reservoir
What the hi...ll u waiting on get to work