California's plan to build the state's first major new reservoir in decades is moving forward after a court rejected a challenge from environmental groups.
In last week's ruling, a Yolo County Superior Court judge ruled against environmental advocates who had argued that the Sites Reservoir would harm the Sacramento River ecosystem and threaten endangered fish species.
Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the decision and said the project has cleared a major hurdle.
“California needs more water storage and we have no time to waste: projects like the Sites Reservoir will capture rain and snow to supply drinking water to millions of homes,” Newsom said in a Press release Tuesday.
State officials say the reservoir will be able to store enough water to supply the annual consumption of 3 million homes.
The reservoir is planned to be built in a valley north of Sacramento to store water for agriculture and cities.
Plans call for two large dams about 300 feet high and nine smaller dams that will cover about 14,0000 acres and retain water diverted from the Sacramento River.
Environmental advocates from the group Friends of the River have opposed the project, expressing concern that diverting water would harm struggling fish populations and the ailing ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Friends of the River and other groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network and Save California Salmon. filed the lawsuit in December.
They argued that the Sites Project Authority had violated the California Environmental Quality Act by approving the reservoir.
Judge Samuel T. McAdam ruled against those claims.
Newsom sought to speed up the process through a infrastructure rationalization law which was adopted last year. The law, SB 149, requires courts to rule on such environmental challenges within 270 days, to the extent possible.
Newsom's office noted that last week's decision came within 148 days.
Sites Reservoir Authority leaders praised the ruling and said that without the governor and Legislature's actions, the court case could have dragged on for several years.
“We are grateful that the court's decision will allow us to move forward on Sites Reservoir and ultimately provide more water for people, farms and the environment,” said Fritz Durst, chairman of the board of directors of the Sites Project Authority. “The need for this water is significant and we have no time to waste.”
Keiko Mertz, policy director of Friends of the River, he told the Sacramento Bee That although the court determined that the project's environmental impact report was a legally adequate document, “we still believe there were significant flaws, including the fact that it does not provide an alternative that protects fish and wildlife.”
Environmental advocates have also expressed concern about Emissions of greenhouse gases that the project would generate.
Supporters say California needs the reservoir to ensure an adequate water supply as climate change puts increasing pressure on the state's limited supplies. They also tout its planned off-river location, which unlike other dams would not block migrating fish.
The construction cost of Sites Reservoir is estimated at more than $4 billion.
The Site Projects Authority says it plans to obtain the necessary permits to begin construction in 2026.
