California regulators have cleared the way for construction of Sites Reservoir, a major new water storage project in Colusa County. The decision marks the state’s largest reservoir undertaking in more than five decades and caps years of debate over cost, environmental harm and tribal objections.
Here are key takeaways:
- The State Water Resources Board on Wednesday, Nov. 4, approved a water rights permit for Sites Reservoir, a 13-mile-long, four-mile-wide and 260-foot-deep project near Maxwell that will hold up to 1.5 million acre feet of water at an estimated cost of more than $6 billion.
- A draft approval issued in March drew sharp criticism from environmental advocates, with Harrison Beck of the Center for Biological Diversity warning the decision did not address serious threats to the Sacramento River ecosystem and imperiled fish populations.
- Federal officials in January signed off on an environmental review that could cover up to a quarter of construction costs, with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum saying the Trump administration backed the project to expand water reliability for communities and agriculture.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom fast-tracked the project through 2023 legislation that expedites legal challenges under the California Environmental Quality Act, pitching Sites as a critical piece of the state’s climate adaptation strategy alongside the $20 billion Delta Conveyance tunnel project.
- A Yolo Superior Court ruling in 2024 rejected a coalition lawsuit from groups including Friends of the River and the Sierra Club, clearing a key environmental court challenge and finding the project’s environmental review legally adequate.
Sites Stats
Here are the details about the Sites Reservoir project.
Where:Colusa and Glenn counties, near Maxwell, approximately 70 miles northwest of Sacramento…