The Sites Project Authority plans to recirculate an environmental document for the proposed Sites Reservoir after project leaders modified plans recently to right size the project proposed for Colusa and Glenn counties.
The reservoir capacity will be reduced from 1.8 million acre feet capacity to from 1.3 to 1.5 million acre feet.
The authority reviewed the project’s proposed operations and facilities and made changes to ensure the reservoir would meet the needs of current participants while still providing water supply reliability and enhancing the environment.
“The Value Planning process was responsive to input from our investors, state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, elected officials, landowners and local communities,” said Fritz Durst, chairman of the Sites Project Authority, in a news release. “By optimizing our plans for Sites Reservoir, we can design a water storage project that meets the needs of our participants and the environment today and in the future.”
The authority originally circulated the Draft Environmental Impact Report for public review in 2017. In compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, the authority must now recirculate the document with the proposed changes for review, which they plan to do in summer 2021.
Sites Reservoir would be an off-stream storage facility located 10 miles west of Maxwell that captures and stores excess stormwater flows from the Sacramento River for release primarily in dry and critical years for environmental use and other needs.