DWR Quantifies the Benefits of Sites Reservoir in a Drought Year

Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2015

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has a new webpage on North of Delta Off-stream Storage (Sites Reservoir) that outlines the benefits Sites Reservoir would provide in a drought year like we experienced in 2014.  This off-stream regulating reservoir also has significant compounding value when integrated with other facilities. Sites would have increased the total Sacramento Valley storage upstream of the Delta storage (including Shasta, Oroville and Folsom) by 900,000 acre-feet, or a 27 percent increase last year. Importantly, the cold water storage in Lake Shasta would have increased by 240,000 acre-feet, which would benefit salmon spawning in the upper Sacramento River.  This 900,000 acre-feet of water could be used for multiple purposes: fish, farms, birds, cities, recreation and to help maintain salinity levels in the Delta.  To learn more, visit: Department of Water Resources – The Drought and Sites Reservoir.

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