From Sierra Sun Times – In California, even as the population has nearly doubled, there has not been any major federal water storage infrastructure built since 1979. However, Reclamation made huge strides under the Trump Administration to move federal water storage projects forward from Northern California to the San Joaquin Valley. A raise at Shasta Dam has been studied since the 1980s. Today, Reclamation is looking to add 630,000 additional acre-feet of water storage at the head of California’s water system with a modest 18½-foot raise of Shasta Dam. Reclamation shared a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement with the public in August 2020, and in November 2020 finalized the Supplemental EIS. Despite previously approving $20 million, Democratic leaders in Congress blocked $115 million in additional requested funding for this project, one of the smartest and most cost-effective opportunities California has to create additional water storage. In the rural counties of Glenn and Colusa in northern California, Reclamation is working with the Sites Project Authority to investigate the new off-stream Sites Reservoir that could take advantage of excess stormwater flows in the Sacramento River to store for later release when needed. This legislation provides an additional $13.7 million on top of the $8.3 million already invested in the multi-beneficial project, and this month, Reclamation delivered a report to Congress showing that this innovative project is feasible. (more)