California awards $2.7bn to water projects

California's Water Commission has allocated funds from the $2.7 billion Proposition 1 water bond to eight projects across the state.

The largest award of $816 million was for the Sites Reservoir project that proposes to pipe water from the Sacramento River to flood a 14-mile valley north of Sacramento. The award was only half the amount the $5.2 billion project had sought. Water agencies operating in Sacramento Valley agricultural districts and urban agencies from Fresno to Los Angeles have pledged to invest in Sites and will now have to reassess their plans for financing their share of the project.

Other awards included a $280.5 million grant for Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District's groundwater storage project to recycle urban wastewater for irrigation. Temperance Flat dam proposed for the San Joaquin River will receive $171 million and $1 billion was awarded to reservoir expansion projects at Pacheco Pass in southeastern Santa Clara County and Los Vaqueros in Contra Costa County.