A key certification request was withdrawn because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lacked documentation.
By Alan Riquelmy, Courthouse News Service
The California state water board on Monday formally announced that the Sites Reservoir project failed to get federal approval, a situation they say isn’t permanent and can be rectified.
The rejection by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the latest setback for the estimated $4 billion project in Northern California that would capture water during the rainy season. Officials have said the reservoir would hold up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water, or enough for 3 million homes a year.
The denial stems from a back-and-forth over documents between governmental agencies, including the State Water Resources Control Board, Sites Project Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The denial is effective Monday, the day the water board sent its letter to the Sites Authority.
According to the water board, the application for certification was denied without prejudice.
“State water board staff will continue to review plans and materials, and work with [the corps] and the authority towards the goal of expeditiously acting on the request for certification for this project once a subsequent certification application is received,” the water board wrote in its letter.
The authority in March submitted a request for water quality certification to the water board. The water board, in turn, posted a notice that the request was then pending before the corps.
Federal certification is needed when there’s discharge into United States waters.
The corps in April sent a letter to the authority stating that it needed more information before processing the request. That included documentation about complying with the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and certain U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
The corps in May told the authority that its request had been withdrawn because it didn’t receive the necessary information. It notified the water board of that decision in July.
Despite the denial, the authority still has a chance to provide the necessary documents to the corps. If that information is delivered quickly, the corps potentially could reach a decision on the water quality certification without restarting the permit process.
The Sites Reservoir project has faced controversy before.
The project went through the necessary environmental process from 2020 to 2023. Environmental and conservation groups sued in Yolo County Superior Court in 2023, claiming that the project would hurt the Sacramento River ecosystem, threaten fish and lead to greenhouse gas emissions.
The groups in their suit said the project would include dams, along with two 3,000-foot-long and 23-foot-wide tunnels. However, the authority has said the project wouldn’t dam or impede the river. It also posed no threat to fish spawning or migration.
The Sites Reservoir landed on the fast track because of a law Governor Gavin Newsom passed earlier in 2023. That law requires courts to resolve challenges under the California Environmental Quality Act within 270 days.
A Yolo County judge rendered his decision in June, ruling in favor of the Sites project.
The environmental and conservation groups had argued that the judge should invalidate the final impact report and project approval, as they didn’t meet the requirements of the state’s environmental law.
Instead, the judge sided with the authority.
Newsom at the time said that the state needs more water storage, and it had no time to waste. The Sites project would capture rain and snow, providing millions of people with drinking water.
“We’re approaching this work with urgency, everything from water storage to clean energy and transportation projects,” the governor said after the judge’s ruling.
Newsom’s office couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.
Initially, gaining the permitting and water rights was slated to last into next year, with construction starting in 2026. Full operations would start in 2032.
It’s unknown how, if at all, Monday’s decision impacts the timeline.
The Sites Reservoir isn’t the only California water project facing pushback.
A Sacramento County judge in June ruled in favor of several water districts and local governments over the state’s delta water conveyance tunnel project. The judge ruled that exploratory work couldn’t continue until the state finished a certification process.
The delta tunnel project would divert water from the North State to the south using a 36-foot wide, 45-miles-long tunnel.
The decision is currently under appeal.
NOTICE: Sites Reservoir Project: Denial without prejudice of water quality certification
