Tag Archive for: Water Storage

Debate Emerges Over How To Cover Costs For Oroville Spillway Repair

On May 8, phase two of reconstruction will begin on the Oroville Dam Spillway, but as more repairs take place, the bills are stacking up. Fixing the Oroville Dam Spillway is something everyone is in favor of, but how to pay for it is a different matter. Some politicians and residents from the Northstate have said they don’t want the federal government to “bail out” California for the cost of spillway repairs. Andrew Giles, a citizen of Oroville, says he doesn’t trust the state or local officials will use the money responsibly.

All Hope Dries Up

Again, it came down to fish, specifically Chinook salmon, that forced the proposed Temperance Flat Dam out of the race for Proposition 1 funding for building new water storage projects. For more than 20 years, the Temperance Flat Dam proposal was passionately advocated with unwavering support by Central Valley cities and the San Joaquin Valley Infrastructure Authority (SJVIA) who were behind the application. Temperance Flat came crumbling down Wednesday at the California Water Commission (CWC) meeting in Sacramento on the second day of discussion.

OPINION: More Water Storage Doesn’t Mean Build More Dams

The California Water Commission has been meeting this week to discuss how to invest $2.7 billion in water storage funds approved by voters under Proposition 1. The commission — and all Californians — should bear in mind that water storage doesn’t necessarily mean a dam with water behind it. The commission’s charge is not to fund the biggest new dam but to fund projects with the greatest net benefits to California cities, farms and wildlife.

OPINION: California Is Dammed Enough Already

Environmental consequences aside, it would seem to make a certain amount of sense to dam a river in order to store and distribute water where and when it is most needed. But what if there’s no river? Or more to the point, what if every river that can be dammed already has been dammed, and the water in those rivers has already been tapped? The value of new, giant dams is extremely limited and costly without new giant rivers to fill them, and California has no such new rivers.