The plan to build California’s largest reservoir in nearly 50 years has cleared one of its last and most fundamental hurdles: tentative approval of the project’s water right. The State Water Resources Control Board on Friday released a draft permit that would allow Sites Reservoir, a proposed 13-mile-long storage facility 70 miles northwest of Sacramento, to draw water from the Sacramento River. While not final, the much-awaited draft permit indicates that state water regulators support the project. … This could pave the way for construction of the $6 billion reservoir to begin as soon as late this year or early next. … Sites Reservoir … has been widely supported by cities and farms as well as by state leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, some environmental groups and tribal communities have opposed the venture, saying it will take water from an already-stressed watershed, thus harming plants and wildlife — including the state’s biggest salmon runs.

Other infrastructure news in California:

• Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, Calif.): MMWD pursues pipeline project review as expenses mount
• The Sacramento Bee (Calif.): Federal funds reach Central Valley Project as California snowpack nears record-low
• Manteca Bulletin (Calif.): SSJID addressing need to improve spillway at Woodward Reservoir
• The Daily Republic (Fairfield, Calif.): State Water Board releases draft right decision for Sites Reservoir
• Action News Now (Chico, Calif.): Public comments needed for Sacramento’s Sites Reservoir proposal