How will California’s water storage hold up in future dry-wet cycles?
By some estimates, more than 32 trillion gallons of water have fallen on the state since the first storms hit in late December. On a levee overlooking the swollen Sacramento River last week, a group of Republican state lawmakers criticized their Democratic colleagues and Governor Gavin Newsom for not prioritizing new projects to capture the deluge. … Republicans called it a “failure of leadership” by Democrats and called for more investments in water storage, both above ground and below. A large reservoir is planned for the northern Sacramento Valley but has been undergoing a lengthy permitting process. Construction at the Sites project is estimated to begin in 2024 with operations beginning in 2030. According to the Sites Project Authority, the reservoir could have captured 120,000 acre-feet of water between Jan. 3 and Jan. 15 if it had been operational.
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- KPBS Public Radio: California storms feed systems set up to capture rainwater