Opinion: Giant new Calif. reservoir plan would bring water to 24 million people
California’s reservoirs are not only vital to the state’s complex water systems, providing millions of people and the state’s agricultural economy with needed access to water; they’re also important gauges for how healthy the state is overall. This year’s at-capacity reservoirs have been a boon for a region besieged by drought over much of the past decade, but more work is needed to help ensure a plentiful and water-wise future for the most populous state in America. Enter Sites Reservoir, a long-in-the-works project that aims to be the biggest reservoir development in nearly half a century. It’s been a massive dream for decades, an idea first worked up by landowners and water districts northwest of Sacramento. Thanks to a new infusion of federal cash, the proposal is closer than ever to actually happening — but not without a very real cost.
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