Maxwell >> Calling all water users: If you would like to buy in on water from a future Sites Reservoir, now is the time.
Plans for Sites Reservoir are moving forward, with a deadline of June 2017 to ask the state Water Commission to pay for half of the estimated $4.4 billion construction cost.
Sacramento Valley water users had the first chance to ask for (and pay for) a future of the water supply pie.
Sacramento Valley water districts are on paper to purchase about 128,000 acre-feet of water annually. That leaves another 122,000 for other groups throughout the state. Last week the Sites Joint Powers Authority,http://sitesjpa.net, announced a July 29 deadline for groups to turn in a proposal.
A public meeting also will be held 2-4 p.m. July 20 at the American Legion Hall in Maxwell, 250 Oak Street.
If the project is built, the maximum storage would be 1.8 million acre-feet. For comparison, Lake Oroville can hold 3.5 million acre-feet of water.
Of the water held in Sites Reservoir, only about 500,000 acre-feet of water is expected to be available for use. As per the rules of the bond, half the water “yield” will go toward public benefits including the environment, recreation and flood control.
That leaves 250,000 acre-feet of water for investors.
To help move the project along, investors are asked to pay up to $60 per acre-foot of water they pledge to receive in the future, explained Jim Watson, manager of the Sites JPA.
Based on the cost of the project today, Watson estimated it would cost water users $600 an acre-foot once the reservoir is up and running.
Just a few years ago, many landowners would have gulped at the thought of paying $600 for 325,851 gallons of water. However, prices for water transfers in 2015 leaped to this point and beyond.
Watson, however, said this is just an estimate. Many assumptions were made to get to this estimate, and any number of things could change as the planning process continues, he said.
The group would then make arrangements for a bond for their share of the financing, with that loan paid off over decades. That bond is separate from the Proposition 1 bond to pay for the public benefits.
Local leadership
Although investors from outside the Sacramento Valley are now being asked to take part, only members within the Sacramento Valley will be the owner operators. Maintaining hydrological control was part of the plan from the beginning.
Investors from both within and outside the region will be needed for planning, because many decisions are needed about how water will move from one area to another.
Some important decisions need to be made by the California Water Commission by December of this year, Watson said. If that happens, the local Sites JPA will provide a request by June 2017 to receive a large amount of the state bond funds for new construction.
The Water Commission could make a decision by December 2017, Watson said.
Watson said there are likely to be legal challenges to any project proposal, which will provide delays for possible construction.
