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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Last month, Sites Reservoir advanced toward construction with two critical environmental permitting milestones.
Learn more in our latest press release: https://sitesproject.org/press-releases/press-release-sites-reservoir-advances-toward-construction-with-key-permitting-and-contracting-milestones/
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Sites Reservoir reached two environmental permitting milestones last month, advancing the project closer to breaking ground by late 2026!
✅@USFWS issued their biological opinion for the construction of the reservoir
✅@CADFW issued their Master Streambed Alteration Agreement
Both key permits are necessary authorizations for Project construction by state and federal agencies. Once built, Sites Reservoir will be the first California reservoir to store water specifically for the environment.
Learn more in our latest press release: https://sitesproject.org/press-releases/press-release-sites-reservoir-advances-toward-construction-with-key-permitting-and-contracting-milestones/
🎉 The Sites Project Authority is celebrating 1️⃣5️⃣ years!
The Authority was founded in August 2010, when even regional entities, including several local water agencies and Counties, executed the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement.
✅ Since then, we’ve secured key permits, granted $780.15 million in federal funding, cleared legal hurdles, and brought California closer to a more secure and resilient water supply future. 💧
Learn more about the milestones the Authority has celebrated over the past 15 years and discover what`s on the horizon at the link in our bio.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Sites Project Authority—the governing body created in 2010 to advance the longstanding vision for an off-stream reservoir in the Sacramento Valley. What began as an idea to strengthen California’s water resilience has grown into a project on the verge of starting construction. Visit the link in our bio to read out latest blog for @NorCalWater and learn more about milestones over the past 15 years, and what lies ahead.
https://norcalwater.org/2025/08/27/celebrating-15-years-of-the-sites-project-authority-a-milestone-in-northern-californias-water-future/ Link in bio.
"Had the proposed off-stream [Sites Reservoir] been operating these last two wet years, it would already hold its entire 1.5-million-acre-foot capacity. This water could have been captured and stored between early 2023 and April 2024, while still meeting every environmental flow requirement.”
Read more from @SacramentoBee and @RepAdamGrayCA: www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article311628029.html. Link in bio.
Thank you to @cawatercommission for voting unanimously to award Sites Reservoir with an additional $218.9 million in Prop 1 funding through the Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP). This vote represents confidence in the significant progress being made to begin project construction in 2026 and be operational by the end of 2032.
Learn more at the link in our bio.
The Sites Reservoir Project is locally-led, involving water agencies from across the entire state and including the participation of the state and federal governments.
👉 Learn more at the link in our bio!
California’s water future starts here. 💧 Sites Reservoir is funded by agencies who will benefit from it—farmers, communities and water users—ensuring that the project’s success is tied directly to the people it supports. 💼🚜💧 Watch this video to learn more.
🔗 More information can be found at SitesProject.org. Link in bio. #SitesReservoir #WhySites #SitesStartsHere #CaliforniaWater
California’s water future starts here. 💧 Watch this video to learn how Sites Reservoir will benefit our communities, farms and environment. 🔗 Learn more at SitesProject.org. Link in bio. #SitesReservoir #WhySites #SitesStartsHere #CaliforniaWater
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Sites Reservoir reached two environmental permitting milestones last month, advancing the project closer to breaking ground by late 2026!
✅@USFWS issued their biological opinion for the construction of the reservoir
✅@CADFW issued their Master Streambed Alteration Agreement
Both key permits are necessary authorizations for Project construction by state and federal agencies. Once built, Sites Reservoir will be the first California reservoir to store water specifically for the environment.
Learn more in our latest press release: sitesproject.org/press-releases/press-release-sites-reservoir-advances-toward-construction-with-k...
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So start construction by late 2026
a photograph from one of the wildlife refuges in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex sites in the middle of the valley.
Soon to be Californias next Over Budget, Boondoggle!