California Approves Sites Reservoir Water Permit

California’s State Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved a water-rights permit for the proposed Sites Reservoir in Colusa County, clearing a major hurdle for the state’s first major new reservoir in decades. The roughly $6 billion-plus project would divert up to 986,000 acre-feet annually from the Sacramento River during eligible high flows and store up to 1.5 million acre-feet for dry periods, supplying farms, communities and wildlife refuges and helping manage floods. The permit allows diversions from November through mid-June and requires protections for senior water rights, Delta water quality and fish, including restrictions during fish migration. Environmental groups, fishing advocates and Tribal representatives warn the project could harm salmon, ecosystems and wildlife habitat and inundate sacred and ancestral lands; critics have also questioned its cost and the durability of its flow protections. The permit covers Sacramento River diversions only, with possible diversions from two local creeks to be considered separately.