The Biden administration and California’s eight water agencies have reached an agreement to share the cost of raising a dam to expand the San Luis Reservoir. The project is an approximately $1 billion project designed to increase the state’s water storage capacity and benefit urban communities and groups. agricultural area.
Plans to raise the BF Sisk Dam and expand the reservoir near Los Banos will allow it to store more water during the rainy season, increasing water storage in parts of the Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley.
“This will make us even more resilient,” said Canon Michael, president of the San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Board. “Especially given California’s dynamic hydrology, the ability to capture more water in an available year is a critical element for a more secure future.”
When the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the agreement Wednesday, Michael and other water managers involved in negotiating the agreement attended an event with federal officials in Washington. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Alex Padilla participated along with other state leaders.
Michael said the reservoir expansion still requires additional efforts to secure funding, but is an important step in preparing the state for the impacts of climate change, including shrinking snowpack and severe storm runoff. He said he was deaf. At the same time, he said it is critical for California to ensure the protection of fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where water is pumped to fill San Luis and other reservoirs.
“It shows that we are facing real change in climate and we have to learn how to adapt,” Michael said. “If we have extra water, we want to be able to save it and use it wisely.”
The dam is currently undergoing renovations to raise the crest by 10 feet and make it more earthquake resistant. The Bureau of Reclamation and local officials have agreed in principle to raise the dam an additional 10 feet, for a total of 20 feet above its original height, to expand the reservoir’s storage capacity.
The San Luis Reservoir, located west of the city of Los Banos, stores supplies for the state water project and the federal government’s Central Valley project.
(Sarah Nevis/California Department of Water Resources)
San Luis Reservoir, one of California’s largest reservoirs, will have an additional 130,000 acre-feet of storage space, equivalent to the annual water use of approximately 400,000 homes.
The federal government says the additional space will increase supplies for about 2 million people, more than 1 million acres of farmland, and Central Valley wetlands that provide important habitat for birds and other wildlife.
The federal government has contributed $95 million to construction so far.
Local California agencies that have agreed to help fund the project include urban providers such as the Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water), which serves San Jose and other Silicon Valley cities. San Benito County Water District. And the town of Tracy. Agricultural water suppliers including Westlands Water District, Del Puerto Water District and Pacheco Water District are also participating.
The San Luis Reservoir is part of California’s two major water systems, the State Water Project and the federally managed Central Valley Project, with more than 2 million acre-feet of water storage space divided between the two systems and a critical It provides a large amount of water storage. Supply supplies south of the Delta.
The dam, 102 feet tall and over 3 miles long, was constructed from 1963 to 1967. It is owned by the federal government and operated by the state water resources department.
The Bureau of Reclamation said the project’s approval last year was the first approval of a large-scale water storage project in California since 2011.
Local water agency managers said the project is also the first major effort to expand the Central Valley project’s water storage capacity since the construction of the New Melones Dam in the 1970s.
In October 2023, water washes onto the shores of the San Luis Reservoir.
(Reclamation Bureau)
Karl Stock, regional director for the Bureau of Reclamation, said increasing reservoir storage capacity is a critical part of the state’s “strategy to improve water reliability.”
Based on current plans and cost estimates, Westlands Water District will contribute approximately $88 million in exchange for the right to receive a portion of additional storage space within the reservoir (approximately 11,000 acre-feet); It becomes available when the reservoir is full. It’s been a wet year, said Alison Febo, the district’s general manager.
“We think storage is very important,” Febo says.
Expanding the reservoir will help supply the district’s farms in Fresno and Kings counties that produce almonds, pistachios, tomatoes and other crops, as well as local efforts to recharge groundwater, Febo said. Ta.
In addition, this project plan shows how various agencies can work together to make the investments needed to update the state’s aging water system, which is “for Californians.” “This is an important step to demonstrate that we are committed to improving and maintaining our infrastructure,” Febo said.
Raising the dam is expected to take several years to complete.
Michael said the project “hasn’t crossed the finish line” as funding still needs to be secured. But he said the completion of interagency negotiations puts the effort on track to move forward.
In addition to raising the dam, a significant portion of the project cost is expected to involve relocating and redesigning a mile-long section of State Route 152 that runs near the reservoir’s high-water shoreline.
Michael and others say they are optimistic that the reservoir expansion could be completed within 10 years if everything goes according to plan.
