Sites Reservoir Allocated an Additional $134 Million in Federal Funding
Maxwell, CA – Last week, the Sites Reservoir Project (Project) received $134 million in federal funding from the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act), which provides funding to improve water infrastructure throughout the United States.
“The continued bipartisan support for Sites Reservoir shows we all agree—we desperately need more water storage in California to prepare for the future,” said Fritz Durst, Chair of the Sites Project Authority Board of Directors. “This announcement brings the WIIN Act funding designated to Sites Reservoir closer to the level the Authority and Reclamation have been working to secure and we’re grateful to our federal partners for helping to advance this critical project closer to construction.”
With this investment, the Project has been designated a total of $780.15 million in federal contributions to date. The Sites Project Authority will continue to work with the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) on achieving their 16% participation goal as space in the reservoir becomes available and sufficient funds are appropriated to the Project. Reclamation recently signed off on its basis of negotiations for a Partnership Agreement where this participation will be formalized.
Sites Reservoir will increase water supply throughout California and provide, for the first time, environmental benefits by storing water specifically to support native wildlife and their habitat during drought periods. The Project will provide an additional 1.5 million acre-feet of storage capacity, substantially improving the state’s water flexibility, reliability, and resiliency in drier years.
The Project is backed by a broad coalition of cities, counties, water agencies, and irrigation districts across California, including the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area, and Southern California. The Project also includes significant participation by the State of California through the 2014 Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Program, in addition to the federal government under the 2016 WIIN Act.
