The Bureau of Reclamation will award $93 million for a fish screen and bypass project on the Arroyo Canal and Sack Dam near Dos Palos – a project necessary to enable Chinook salmon on the San Joaquin River to complete their lifecycle.

The project complies with settlement agreements from 2006 and 2009 for San Joaquin River restoration.

The Bureau says the project fulfills two of the highest priorities from the 2006 settlement – allowing fish passage and preventing them from being diverted from waterways with irrigation diversions.

The project will enable spring-run Chinook to bypass Sack Dam and complete their journeys downriver to the ocean and upriver to spawn.

Completion Expected Summer 2028

It’s scheduled to begin in fall and will take about three years, with estimated completion in summer 2028.

A statement from the Bureau said the project is another way the agency is helping the Central Valley secure water access.

Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, applauded the funding in a statement in a news release, calling it “another huge win for the Valley.”

“Our community knows that we don’t need to compromise reliable water access for wildlife protection, and vice versa,” Gray said. “State and federal partnerships like this are critical to continued economic growth and well-being for Valley families.”

The canal and dam are the sole diversion and conveyance facilities for the Henry Miller Reclamation District and provide ag water to approximately 47,000 acres of farmland in the San Joaquin Valley as well as water to federal and state wildlife refuges and private duck clubs.

The $93 million contract for Sack Dam and Arroyo Canal construction follows a $255 million award to reinforce and raise the B.F. Sisk Dam on the San Luis Reservoir outside of Los Banos.

About the Author

Brianna Vaccari is the editor and accountability/government watchdog reporter for The Merced FOCUS.

About The Merced FOCUS

 The Merced FOCUS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom covering Merced and the San Joaquin Valley.