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California drought: Why doesn’t California build big reservoirs any more? (2014)

17 points by danboarder 4y ago

keneda7 4y ago
Here is a more recent article that talks about a new reservoir in CA. Its quoted saying the new proposed one will add up to 15% of CA's total water storage. That is a far cry from the 1% the mercury news quotes. Both articles reference the Sites Reservoir. https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-new-mega-reservoir-in-final-planning-for-california https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-new-mega-reservoir-in-final-plan...
- danboarder 4y ago
  Thanks! Maybe I'm not looking in the right places but it seems like big projects to solve buffering of water availability between seasons for the growing needs of California has not been discussed enough. I do see more articles about desalination, but really we already have massive amounts of excess water running off into the ocean during winters that could be captured to serve needs in the summer months. I am wondering if these new efforts will get approved or stuck in "red tape" for years. From the original article, it looks like the last serious effort to build a big reservoir was in the 70s.
  - keneda7 4y ago
    Ya the other article I linked seems to imply there is movement on the Sites Reservoir project. In fact the article makes its seem like it is in the final planning stages. Note that the Sites location was first talked about in the 1950s so it has been a long long road. I believe this is the official site for the project if you want to stay up to date with news. https://sitesproject.org/sites-news/ https://sitesproject.org/sites-news/
pioughd 4y ago
"The project would pump 470,000 to 640,000 acre-feet (580,000,000 to 790,000,000 m3) per year of the winter flood flow from the Sacramento River" Isn't most of the Sacramento River at that point an outflow of Shasta Dam? Lately which we are struggling to fill? The only winter floods its going to be tasting this year are the inflows from tributaries south of Shasta Dam...
mariuolo 4y ago
Is mercury contamination of rivers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_contamination_in_California_waterways https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_contamination_in_Calif...) a factor in water scarcity today?

17 points by danboarder 4y ago

Here is a more recent article that talks about a new reservoir in CA. Its quoted saying the new proposed one will add up to 15% of CA's total water storage. That is a far cry from the 1% the mercury news quotes. Both articles reference the Sites Reservoir. https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-new-mega-reservoir-in-final-planning-for-california https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-new-mega-reservoir-in-final-plan...

danboarder 4y ago
Thanks! Maybe I'm not looking in the right places but it seems like big projects to solve buffering of water availability between seasons for the growing needs of California has not been discussed enough. I do see more articles about desalination, but really we already have massive amounts of excess water running off into the ocean during winters that could be captured to serve needs in the summer months. I am wondering if these new efforts will get approved or stuck in "red tape" for years. From the original article, it looks like the last serious effort to build a big reservoir was in the 70s.
- keneda7 4y ago
  Ya the other article I linked seems to imply there is movement on the Sites Reservoir project. In fact the article makes its seem like it is in the final planning stages. Note that the Sites location was first talked about in the 1950s so it has been a long long road. I believe this is the official site for the project if you want to stay up to date with news. https://sitesproject.org/sites-news/ https://sitesproject.org/sites-news/

pioughd 4y ago

"The project would pump 470,000 to 640,000 acre-feet (580,000,000 to 790,000,000 m3) per year of the winter flood flow from the Sacramento River" Isn't most of the Sacramento River at that point an outflow of Shasta Dam? Lately which we are struggling to fill? The only winter floods its going to be tasting this year are the inflows from tributaries south of Shasta Dam...

mariuolo 4y ago

Is mercury contamination of rivers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_contamination_in_California_waterways https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_contamination_in_Calif...) a factor in water scarcity today?