Plans for Water Storage Due August 14th

By Jessica Theisman, Associate Editor

Five years after a devastating drought in California, the lack of water storage is now causing flood flows to move out to the ocean. It’s clear that California needs water infrastructure updates, and that includes building water storage projects, such as Temperance Flat Dam behind Millerton Lake in Central California.

Mario Santoyo

For those trying to build and update the water storage infrastructure, they have a deadline of August 14th to get the plans to the California Water Commission.

Mario Santoyo is executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Water Infrastructure Authority, which will be submitting plans for the Temperance Flat Dam. Each plan must show how it will serve the public good. “It is not simple because there is so much engineering and analysis that needs to be done. That effort itself is probably going to cost us somewhere around $800,000,” he said.

Public support and rallying behind projects such as Temperance Flat is always welcomed.

“They can do that simply by writing to the California Water Commission in Sacramento and voicing their support for the Temperance Flat project, and asking that commission consider providing funding to make it a reality for the [Central] Valley,” Santoyo said.

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There is approximately $2.5 billion dollars available for these projects and there are several projects vying for those dollars. One of them is Sites Reservoir, which is north of the delta; another is Contra Costa expansion, which is in Contra Costa. There is also a number of small regional projects seeking the dollars.