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March 18, 2022 - WASHINGTON, DC - On Thursday, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) secured a formal commitment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Sites Map Smprovide $2.2 billion in additional federal financing for the proposed off-stream Sites Reservoir Project in Glenn and Colusa Counties, California. When finalized, this will be the single largest loan in the history of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program.

“The off-stream Sites Reservoir will bring California closer to achieving a drought-resilient water system, storing floodwater from the Sacramento River during wet years for use during dry years by farmers, our communities, and the environment. With this $2.2 billion in additional federal financing, we have now secured the public funding necessary to start construction of Sites Reservoir. I am now calling on Governor Newsom to direct the state agencies to finally complete the permitting process for the Sites Reservoir Project. After years of planning, it is time to finish the state permitting process and build the first major new reservoir in California since 1999,” said Congressman Garamendi (D-CA).

Congressman Garamendi, who served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior during the Clinton Administration, has long championed the off-stream Sites Reservoir Project during his tenure in Congress, sponsoring legislation for the proposed project and securing more than $2.4 billion in public funding for the project, including $816 million from the 2014 State Water Bond (Proposition 1), $449 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in November 2018, and $117 million from the federal Bureau of Reclamation, to date.

Authorized by Congress in 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) WIFIA program provides low-interest federal financing for public water projects. Each year, the USEPA reviews letters of intent from public water projects across the country to pursue WIFIA loans. Only a handful of projects nationally are then selected by the USEPA to apply for this highly competitive federal financing. Invited projects are all but certain to be approved by the USEPA for this low-interest federal financing. On July 22, 2021, Congressman Garamendi led a letter of support for the Sites Project’s WIFIA application, cosigned by 23 Members of California’s Congressional delegation. On December 3, 2021, the USEPA announced the agency was inviting 39 new projects to apply for WIFIA financing. Today’s announcement by the USEPA brings the total for WIFIA loans to 40 projects nationwide selected on a competitive basis.

“The WIFIA loan brings us significantly closer to the construction and completion of Sites Reservoir and the Sites Project Authority is grateful for Congressman Garamendi’s continued support and leadership on Sites Reservoir.” Said Jerry Brown, the Sites Project Authority Executive Director. 

“The significance of this opportunity cannot be overstated,” said Fritz Durst, chairman of the Sites Project Authority. “We thank our federal partners and the Biden Administration for supporting Sites Reservoir in such a meaningful way. For Sites Reservoir to be built – bringing substantial and critical environmental benefits to California – it has to be affordable for our participants. This loan can get us there,” added Durst.

According to the Sites Project Authority, a loan through the WIFIA program could dramatically reduce the costs to participants, making it more affordable for cities, farms, and resource managers to have access to more water in dry years. Sites Reservoir is significant for California and the nation, and a substantial loan through the WIFIA program will help realize the many environmental and water supply benefits of this project. Sites Reservoir is a proposed off-stream water storage facility that will create resiliency against the impacts of climate change. The reservoir does not dam a major river system and would not block fish migration or spawning. Sites Reservoir captures and stores stormwater flows from the Sacramento River —after all other water rights and regulatory requirements are met—for release primarily in dry and critically dry years for environmental use and for California communities, farms, and businesses. One of Sites Reservoir’s greatest strengths is its broad statewide support—including cities, counties, water, and irrigation districts throughout the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area, and Southern California.

In July 2021, the following 23 Members of California’s Congressional delegation cosigned Congressman Garamendi’s letter of support for the Sites Project’s WIFIA application: U.S. Representatives Doug LaMalfa, Jim Costa, Mike Thompson, Ami Bera, M.D., Zoe Lofgren, Katie Porter, Josh Harder, Adam B. Schiff, Anna G. Eshoo, Eric Swalwell, Jimmy Panetta, Raul Ruiz, M.D., Norma J. Torres, Mark Takano, Jerry McNerney, Ro Khanna, Tony Cárdenas, Linda T. Sánchez, Salud Carbajal, Brad Sherman, Pete Aguilar, Doris Matsui.

At Congressman Garamendi’s urging, Governor Newsom included the Sites Reservoir Project in his statewide 2020 Water Resilience Portfolio.
Source: Congressman John Garamendi