Opinion: Getting Sites Reservoir across the finish line
It’s difficult to build big water infrastructure projects in California. It takes collaboration and agreement across geographic and political divides. It takes time, funding, and the will of diverse stakeholders to advance solutions to address our state’s biggest water challenges. When you have a project that boasts all the above, you can get the job done. For us, that project is Sites Reservoir. Sites Reservoir is a new way of capturing and storing water – rather than damming a major river, the proposal involves utilizing existing infrastructure to convey and store water off-stream and deliver it back into the system when it’s needed the most. When flows are high on the Sacramento River – and once all other senior water rights are met – a portion of the water will be piped into Sites Reservoir.
-Written by Congressman Mike Thompson, representing California’s 4th Congressional District; and Congressman Doug LaMalfa, lifelong farmer representing California’s 1st Congressional District, which includes the physical footprint of Sites Reservoir.