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IrelandSites Reservoir clears permit hurdle, with completion projected around 2040
CBS News Sacramento reports that construction could begin next summer, while river advocates and tribes raise concerns about what the project would cost beyond money.
CBS News Sacramento
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 36,390 views a day, 81 times a normal first day on this channel (447).
Sites Reservoir clears final hurdle to begin construction in Northern California
Building the reservoir is only part of the wait. In CBS News Sacramento's report on the newly approved permit for Sites Reservoir, reporter Brady Halbleib explains that filling it could take nearly as long as constructing it.
The Northern California project is expected to break ground next summer, followed by roughly seven years of construction and another six to fill. The studio discussion puts the estimated completion around 2040.
Planned for Colusa County, Sites would store water diverted from the Sacramento River. It is an offstream reservoir, meaning water would be carried to a separate storage basin rather than held behind a dam across the river itself. The report puts its price at $7 billion and describes its purpose as helping California cope with population growth and climate-driven uncertainty in water supplies.
Jerry Brown of the Sites Project Authority emphasizes how long California has gone without building water storage on this scale. But the report also gives space to the objections: Keiko Mertz of Friends of the River warns about the effects of river diversions on wildlife, particularly Chinook salmon. Northern California tribes protest the proposed flooding of sacred land and ancestral burial sites.
The report drew roughly 36,000 views in its first day, far beyond the station's usual audience for short uploads. Its central distinction is worth keeping in mind: permission to begin construction does not mean stored water will arrive soon.
A proposed offstream reservoir west of Colusa in Northern California. It would store Sacramento River water diverted through existing canals, with its annual water yield depending on rainfall and environmental restrictions.
More on Wikipedia ›An organization founded in 1973 during the campaign to save the Stanislaus River from New Melones Dam.
More on Wikipedia ›Published on Trari
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- Channel
- CBS News Sacramento
- Subscribers
- 211,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 634,262
- Channel views, pace per day
- 97,248 (on a normal day: 145,533)
- Video published
- November 6, 2026
- Video views so far
- 41,278 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 40,904
The numbers
The Sites Reservoir report drew an unusually large first-day audience for one of the station's short uploads, even as overall daily channel views ran below their usual pace.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which river would supply water to Sites Reservoir?
The project would divert water from the Sacramento River into the planned offstream reservoir.