California is set to gain its largest new reservoir in more than 50 years, despite fierce opposition from Native American tribes and environmental groups.
The State Water Resources Control Board approved the final water-right permit for the Sites Reservoir project in Glenn and Colusa counties in Northern California.
The proposed 1.5 million-acre-foot reservoir would draw water from the Sacramento River during periods of high flow, storing it for use when prolonged dry conditions arrive.
“Sites Reservoir is a smart investment in our future, helping ensure our communities, farms, and wildlife have the water they need when it matters most. Now it’s time to get shovels in the ground,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Nov. 5.
Sites is an off-stream project, meaning it would not be built directly on a major waterway or significantly disrupt river flows and fish habitats. The reservoir would hold enough water to supply more than 4.5 million homes for a year.
Native American tribes with longstanding ties to this rural part of Northern California have opposed the project, arguing that the reservoir would destroy important cultural sites and erase their communities’ heritage.
Amanda Mitchum, an official with the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians, described the planned reservoir as “cultural genocide.”
“If this reservoir goes through, you will literally be covering up the footprints and trails that my father walked with his mother, he walked with me, and I walk with my children. And that’ll all be gone,” Mitchum said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
MUST READ: Gisele Bündchen Shares Loving Birthday Tribute to Husband Joaquim Valente
Theresa Moore of the Chhé’ee Fókaa Band of Northeastern Pomo called the proposal a “destructive, extractive” project.
“You are corruptly embracing a role as the mouthpieces and rubber-stamps of Big Ag, water profiteers, and the politicians in their pockets,” she told the water board, The Times reported.
Environmental organizations have also criticized the reservoir. Keiko Mertz, policy director for Friends of the River, said the project “makes no sense.”
“It costs billions, delivers a trickle of new water, and threatens the health of the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay-Delta,” Mertz said, according to the news outlet.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with the facility expected to become operational by 2033, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The State Board’s decision followed an extensive public water-right proceeding and decades of planning and collaboration involving the Sites Project Authority, local, state and federal partners, and participating water agencies throughout California.
“The Sites project has been decades in the making, and today we are closer than ever to making it a reality. Sites is a 21st-century solution for 21st-century problems.
“With this decision, we’re ready to move forward and turn years of planning into action,” Fritz Durst, chair of the Sites Project Authority Board of Directors, said in a statement.