Eight California water agencies and the federal government agreed on Nov. 13 to share the costs of raising the B.F. Sisk Dam, which impounds the nation’s largest off-stream reservoir in the San Joaquin Valley.
The agreement dedicates nearly $1 billion to expanding the San Luis Reservoir, adding 130,000 acre-feet of storage. This will provide water for about two million people, over one million acres of farmland, and 135,000 acres of Pacific Flyway wetlands and wildlife habitat.
“The ability to capture more water in the years it is available, particularly given California’s dynamic hydrology, is a critical component of a more secure future for the communities, farms, and wildlife,” said San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority Board Chair Cannon Michael in a statement….