Sites Reservoir is still facing opposition from conservation groups, but in most corners of Colusa County – where mom-and-pop businesses are trying to survive long enough to hold the community’s identity intact  – the project’s massive seven-year build-out is increasingly being viewed as a badly needed stimulus opportunity. At least, for those who think it will actually happen. Water contractors have talked about building a project like Sites in Colusa for decades. That means some longtime residents equate discussing a financial windfall from it today as something like daydreaming. But things change. Now, with strong support from California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom and the Mid-Valley’s Republican Congressman James Gallagher, the managers at Sites Project Authority say they could be breaking ground on the reservoir as early as next summer.   

Other California reservoir news:

• Active NorCal (Redding, Calif.): Lake Oroville is at 80% capacity heading into peak summer
• Maven’s Notebook: Blog: Could water rights scuttle Sites?