SACRAMENTO - As our weather continues to show less than promising signs of a 'Miracle March,' the state's drought concerns deepen.
Wednesday, State groups and lawmakers will announce legislation that would authorize construction of the Sites Reservoir in Colusa County.
The project area is about an hour north of Sacramento, situated between the Sacramento Valley to the east and the mountainous portion of the Coast Range on the west. It's currently being used for livestock and cattle grazing.
Once completed, the Sites Reservoir could provide 1.9 million acre feet of water storage capacity for Northern California.
Total project costs range from $3.6 billion to $4.1 billion. The project will ideally be funded using federal, State and local funds.
Congressmen John Garamendi and Doug LaMalfa are behind the project.
"An investment of several billion dollars to build these reservoirs actually is a good investment with an enormous return because we will not have the same kind of problems of the economy and agriculture that we're seeing in this year's drought," Garamendi said.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) said they believe the Sites Reservoir would be an asset for California's water future.
DWR said if the Sites Reservoir were in place this year, it would have improved storage in Northern California reservoirs by over 1 million-acre-feet, a 20-percent increase.
"This is a major effort that needs to be made by all of California. We need to replicate what the Metropolitan Water District did in Southern Calfornia. They built the reservoirs, they stored the water, they're prepared for the drought; Northern California did not," Garamendi said.
Critics of the projected reservoir are concerned about the potential disruption of fish migration when large amounts of water are pumped from the river.
The Sites Reservoir is the last of five reservoir projects either being considered for construction or expansion to help create more water storage in Northern California.
Wednesday's press conference will be held near Maxwell in Colusa County at 9 a.m.
