Published
1 year agoon
While many environmentalists oppose the construction and expansion of dams, the Biden Administration believes in the value of above-ground water storage.
“Through the investments we are announcing today, we will advance water storage and conveyance supporting local water management agencies, farmers, families, and wildlife.” — Interior Secretary Dab Haaland
The Department of Interior on Monday announced $210 million in funding for water storage and conveyance projects in the western United States.
Included is $137 million for three California projects:
“In the wake of severe drought across the West, the Department is putting funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to work to expand access to clean, reliable water and mitigate the impacts of this crisis,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a news release.
“Water is essential to every community – for feeding families, growing crops, powering agricultural businesses, and sustaining wildlife and our environment. Through the investments we are announcing today, we will advance water storage and conveyance supporting local water management agencies, farmers, families, and wildlife.”
“This investment, along with the ongoing Friant Kern-Canal construction already underway, shows that we can and will improve our water system to better sustain future droughts due to climate change,” said Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno).
“I thank the Biden Administration for incorporating my input to fund San Joaquin Valley water projects in its Bipartisan Infrastructure Law spending plan.”
Federico Barajas, executive director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, said that the investment in the Sisk dam project “is an important tool for increasing our resilience to changing rainfall and snowpack patterns.
““During the last 10 years, the communities and ecosystems that rely on the water supplied by our member agencies have experienced water whiplash — two of the driest three-year periods in California’s history and two of its wettest years. It is clear that we must store water when it’s available for use in the drier periods we know will come.”
Work started in June on raising the B.F. Sisk Dam by 10 feet to reduce the risk of the massive earthen structure collapsing in a major earthquake. The reservoir’s current capacity is about 2 million acre-feet.
The federal project is expected to cost $1.1 billion and take nine years — even with crews working 24 hours a day.
The rationale for this reservoir is to capture water from major storms and save it for drought years. Sites is expected to supply farms, businesses, and cities with water when other sources are low.
In March of this year, Rep. John Garamendi announced that the EPA had committed to providing $2.2 billion in additional federal financing for the off-stream project. The price tag for Sites, which would store 1.5 million acre-feet of water is estimated at nearly $4 billion.
When completed, this off-stream reservoir would add 110,000 acre-feet of storage, taking its capacity to 275,000 acre-feet.
Here is a look at the three other projects in the west receiving federal funding, as announced on Monday:
Colorado:
Montana:
Washington:
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email