The Sites Reservoir was awarded $13.7 million in the 2021 federal spending bill.
The 2021 federal spending bill was signed into law Sunday by President Donald Trump, which included $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies and a $900 billion pandemic relief package.
Sites Reservoir is proposed for construction in remote ranch lands in Colusa County, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. It was originally given a $5.1 billion price tag, but the Sites Project Authority reduced it to $3 billion in May.
The $13.7 million was authorized through the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act. With the money included in the federal spending bill, roughly $23.7 million has been granted to the Bureau of Reclamation for Sites Reservoir, according to a statement from Sites.
“We thank our federal partners for their continued support of Sites Reservoir,” stated Fritz Durst, chairman of the Sites Project Authority. “Our representatives understand the importance and significance of Sites, and these investments help us maintain momentum and meet critical milestones to advance the project.”
The reservoir would work by diverting water from the Sacramento River in wet years, and releasing it in dry years for farms and cities throughout the state. Sites claims that their project would provide great benefits “to the people and environment of California, under the most challenging climate change scenarios.”
“Sites Reservoir is a unique collaboration between local, state and federal partners,” Durst stated. “With their support, we are on track to build an affordable, modern and sustainable water storage project for California.”
Sites had previously received a $449 million loan from the USDA in 2018, and $816 million from a decision by the Jerry Brown administration that same year to spend $2.5 billion to help fund eight new large water projects across California.
That funding came from Proposition 1, a water bond approved by voters in November 2014, during California’s five-year drought.
The Sites Reservoir project is supported by 28 water agencies serving over 20 million Californians and irrigating millions of acres of agriculture, and has been endorsed by numerous organizations throughout Northern California and the Sacramento Valley Region.
