Qualla: Sites Reservoir https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:11 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/c/p/sites-reservoir-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Sites Reservoir https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir Sites Reservoir: Introduction https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. California has been arguing about this reservoir for seventy years. First proposed in the 1950s, the Sites Reservoir has outlasted governors, survived droughts, weathered lawsuits, and consumed over $50 million in studies before a single shovel hit dirt. Now, with construction set to begin in 2027 and a price tag now exceeding $6.2 billion, the project is finally moving from paper to earth in a quiet valley west of Colusa. What makes Sites unusual is not just its scale -- 1.5 million acre-feet of storage, enough water for 7.5 million people for a year -- but its fundamental design. Unlike nearly every other major reservoir in California, Sites will not dam a river. It will sit off to the side, filling up when the Sacramento River runs high and holding that water for the dry years that always come.

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/c/p/sites-reservoir-wp/9qcp-sites-reservoir-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Sites Reservoir: A Valley Waiting to Be Filled https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. The site itself is a naturally occurring valley near the small town of Maxwell, about 80 miles north of Sacramento. Once built, the reservoir will stretch 13 miles from north to south and 4 miles east to west, reaching about 260 feet deep at its lowest point. Two primary dams -- ...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/c/p/sites-reservoir-wp/9qcp-sites-reservoir-a-valley-waiting-to-be-filled.mp3 0:06 2 full Sites Reservoir: Banking Rain for Drought https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sites Reservoir represents a different philosophy of water storage. Traditional California reservoirs -- Shasta, Oroville, Folsom -- dam major rivers and depend heavily on snowmelt. Sites catches rain. During wet winters, when the Sacramento River runs high and floodwater pours t...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/c/p/sites-reservoir-wp/9qcp-sites-reservoir-banking-rain-for-drought.mp3 0:06 3 full Sites Reservoir: Water for the Wild https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. In a first for California, the environment is planned to be the single largest beneficiary of water stored in Sites Reservoir. Under the terms of its Proposition 1 funding -- $816 million from the 2014 water bond -- the project must dedicate a significant share of its stored wate...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/c/p/sites-reservoir-wp/9qcp-sites-reservoir-water-for-the-wild.mp3 0:06 4 full Sites Reservoir: The Price of Progress https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. Not everyone is convinced. Environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Golden State Salmon Association argue the project will increase diversions from the Sacramento River and the Bay-Delta, harming salmon and other fish. Diversions could capture ...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/c/p/sites-reservoir-wp/9qcp-sites-reservoir-the-price-of-progress.mp3 0:06 5 full Sites Reservoir: Seventy Years in the Making https://qualla.com/sites-reservoir/ Photo credit Nzeemin, CC BY-SA 3.0. The project's journey from concept to construction reads like a history of California water politics itself. Proposed in the 1950s, it sat dormant through decades of competing priorities. Droughts in 1977-78, 2006-2010, and 2011-2017 revived interest each time. Preliminary studie...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/c/p/sites-reservoir-wp/9qcp-sites-reservoir-seventy-years-in-the-making.mp3 0:06 6 full