We Can't Fix Past Mistakes, But We Can Prevent New Ones During critically dry years, Sites could allow water diversions to take more than half of the Sacramento River’s flow. This impacts communities - including fishing and tourism economies - all over Northern California. In some months, Sites could reduce flows in the Delta by 11% Trinity River by up to 17% Feather River by up to 18% American River by up to 16% Sutter Bypass by up to 21% and Yolo Bypass by up to 36%. Millions of Californians would see their communities forever altered and livelihoods jeopardized. More than 78 miles of the Sacramento River would see reduced or altered water flows. The Sites Project Authority wants to build TWO massive dams and nine other dams, combined to flood the Antelope Valley and forever alter a picturesque landscape and habitat. Indeed, to talk about Sites Reservoir as a single project is misleading. The reservoir itself would drown thousands of acres of grassland, oak woodland, and riparian habitat, further imperiling threatened and endangered species throughout the Sacramento River watershed. Sites would allow its investors to divert and sell even more of the over-allocated water, further diminishing Spring flows in the Sacramento River and the Delta. The reality is California has over-allocated water from the Sacramento River by 151%- that means that there are more rights to divert water out of the river than the river can provide in an average water year. Yet the harm caused to waterways throughout California would be permanent and irreversible. If constructed, According to the Sites Project Authority preferred model, Sites Reservoir would only expand overall water availability in California by less than 1% - just 0.657% on average - and during long drought spells, it would sit useless. Species brought to the brink of extinction during the last dam boom may not recover if Sites is constructed. While its impact on overall state water supplies would be minimal, its impact on the environment could be devastating. Today, the Sacramento River faces an existential threat: the proposed Sites Reservoir, a boondoggle that could cost taxpayers billions of dollars and prevent investments in real solutions to our state's water woes.ĭo you know why Sites Reservoir hasn’t already been built when previous generations of water wasters dammed up so much of the state? Because it was an inferior location then, and it’s even more of a boondoggle today. The Sacramento River is an important source of water for state residents and is also a beloved recreation destination for millions of visitors. The river’s watershed encompasses more than 25,000 square miles and is home to 2.2 million Californians. The majestic Sacramento River is California’s largest, flowing almost 450 miles from its headwaters to its outlet at the Golden Gate on San Francisco Bay. URGENT: Stop the Sites Reservoir Boondoggle Feel free to contact us if you wish to participate in the hearings or assistance in filing a protest.) Read our press release. Friends of the River and other organizations will be filing a protest(s). Individuals and organizations which wish to actively participate in the Board's hearings on this matter have to file "protests" by August 1. Backing a public vote were agricultural organizations and elected officials from Delta jurisdictions like Solano County, Contra Costa County, San Joaquin County and Sacramento County.( Breaking News: on June 2nd the State Water Resources Control Board noticed the Sites Authority's proposed water rights for the Sites Reservoir Project. Lawmakers representing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta area, where signs opposing the project are ubiquitous features of the landscape, have clashed with a potent pro-tunnels coalition of business groups, organized labor and major urban and agricultural water importers. The $15.5 billion plan to construct two massive water conveyance tunnels in the heart of California’s water circulatory system has driven the latest round of a decades-long battle over exporting water from wetter Northern California to more populous Southern California. Randall California Assembly committee on Tuesday moved to force a public vote on a controversial water conveyance project. Aerial photos of the region to be affected by the Delta water tunnels and intakes near Walnut Grove on Wednesday, April 10, 2013.
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