Turn in Comments to: California.Jobs@opr.ca.gov

Sign petition at: https://www.change.org/SitesStreamlining 

A recent application from the Sites Authority requests that its massive, PRIVATELY owned new reservoir off of the Sacramento River be streamlined as a California Infrastructure Project, under a new law. The state has given the public only 18 days to comment. 

The Sites Authority, which is made up of California’s largest and most wasteful water users, is one of the first entities requesting streamlining. This is despite the fact that guidelines for the process do not exist yet and the project could take, and privatize, an additional 1.5 million acre feet of water a year out of the Sacramento River and Bay Delta. They would then sell this public resource for a profit. The streamlining process would allow the project, which has massive climate and environmental impacts, to sidestep the normal environmental processes and reviews.

Sites Reservoir should not be eligible for this process. It is not a public project and it would be the size of Manhattan and almost half the size of Shasta Reservoir. The Sites Project Authority, which is made up mainly of State Water Project (SWP) water contractors and irrigation districts is currently requesting a new water right of 1.5 million acre feet per year to the Sacramento River and tributaries and it has offered little to no protection for spring salmon or water quality despite the current emergency actions to stop extinction and need to protect Delta inflows. The authority did almost no Tribal consultation despite having projected impacts to Tribal beneficial uses and Delta water quality. 

The proposal includes inundating four creeks and adds new diversion pumps on the Sacramento River in Red Bluff. It does not include protections for the Trinity River or Upper Sacramento River salmon or for the Tribes and fishermen that depend on them despite the fact it will lower flows and impact water quality some years. 

Tell Governor Newsom he should not fast track environmental destruction and the privatization of California’s water 

Dear Governor Newsom and OPR, 

I am opposed to the Sites Authority application to be a streamlined project. Sites Reservoir would be a massive new private reservoir, not critical public infrastructure. Furthermore the Authority is putting the cart before the horse.  OPR has not issued project eligibility guidelines yet as recommended in SB 149 for “infrastructure streamlining.”

Furthermore: 

Sites Project Authority has issued two complex and inadequate CEQA/environmental review documents for the proposed reservoir that must be adequately reviewed by the judicial system.

Sites is a potentially environmentally destructive and controversial project that was not intended for streamlining under the SB 149 program.
Sites will have significant impacts to disadvantaged communities due to construction impacts, and the impacts of water diversions and discharges on freshwater flows, temperature, water quality and related impacts to imperiled species.
Sites is NOT only taking “surplus” water: The Sites Project Authority plans to divert water from the Sacramento River at any time that water is legally available, meaning there is sufficient water to meet all water rights with priority and the absolute minimum in stream flows for protection of endangered species as required by the State Water Board. This means not only would the project divert water from the imperiled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary during storm events or to protect communities against flooding, but even during dry years when maintaining in stream flows is critical to protect water quality, temperature and endangered species. The State Water Board is currently in the process of updating water quality requirements for the Bay-Delta watershed, which would likely affect Sites diversions and operations.

Sites does not prioritize water for ecological benefits in its operations: The Sites Authority plans to allow each Storage Partner to manage their own storage space independently to the extent feasible. The State of California has invested in this project through the Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Project, and is a Storage Partner, with their block of water intended to provide water wildlife refuges. However, by the terms, this water will be treated uniformly by the Sites Authority, as they would water for any other Storage Partner, not prioritized. Furthermore, Sites has no available plan for conflict resolution to demonstrate that in the event water is not available to meet all Partners’ needs, water for ecological benefits would take precedence.

Sites will contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions: According to a recent study, the Sites Project is estimated to emit 362,000 metric tons of CO2E annually, a majority of which will be in the form of methane. This is the equivalent to the emissions from over 80 thousand gas-powered cars. While construction, operations and maintenance, and recreation activities contribute somewhat to greenhouse gas emissions, surface emissions due to decomposition of organic matter, discharge of water through turbines, and downstream wetland loss caused by diversion impacts to hydrologic flow were found to be the most significant contributors for the Sites Project.