California board approves Sites Reservoir water permit; draft terms cap diversions at 986,000 acre-feet

California's State Water Resources Control Board approved a water right permit for the proposed Sites Reservoir on November 4, in what the project's backers describe as a unanimous vote. The governor's office said on November 5 that the 1.5 million acre-foot project north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would be the state's largest new reservoir in more than 50 years. The signed decision was not posted when we checked, so the terms below come from the draft that went to the board. They are narrower than what the Sites Project Authority asked for, and part of its application is still pending.

The figures come from the board's November 4 presentation on the second revised draft, which came before it with one change sheet of mostly procedural edits. On November 6 we did not find the signed decision or permit on the board's hearing page, orders page or agenda folder. The change sheet directs staff to issue the permit "with any necessary minor modifications," so the final text could differ. A later priority date generally matters in dry years, when older rights are served first; the slides list satisfying all senior rights as a condition for diverting.

How much water it could divert

The governor's office says a full reservoir could supply more than 4.5 million homes for a year. The draft decision estimates average diversions of 183,000 acre-feet a year over 2012 to 2026 under the strictest reading of the state's new Bay-Delta flow rules, 39% below a 297,000 acre-foot baseline. The Authority's own modeling of a lighter reading gave 219,000 acre-feet.

Using the governor's office ratio of about 3 homes per acre-foot, 183,000 acre-feet a year would be enough for about 550,000 homes. That is our rough calculation, not a state figure: it counts all the water diverted to storage, while the project also serves farms and wildlife. The board's staff presentation also lists a condition barring any diversions until the updated Bay-Delta Plan, adopted October 29, is implemented.

One application is not finished

The governor's office calls this the project's "final water-right permit" and says it has every regulatory approval needed to start building, and Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said "All regulatory approvals have now been provided" and that the state is close to breaking ground. Neither statement mentions the creek application. The board split the application in two, and the draft decision "does not authorize appropriation of water from Funks Creek or Stone Corral Creek." That part goes to a separate hearing on January 27, 2027, with evidence due December 2. In a September statement, the Authority called the creek water important to affordability for the Sacramento Valley.

Cost and who pays

The draft decision traces the project's rising price: $3.4 billion in 2019 dollars, then $3.9 billion, then $4.8 billion as of 2023. Opponents introduced evidence in 2025 that the Authority expected $6.2 billion to $6.8 billion. Based partly on the $4.8 billion figure, they estimate water at $1,600 to $1,900 per acre-foot, and the decision says the Authority does not directly dispute that, arguing instead that its storage partners should judge affordability. The project's backers include irrigation districts and urban suppliers serving the Bay Area and Southern California.

We expect that individual Storage Partners will appropriately consider the costs and impact to ratepayers

The governor's office puts eligible state funding at about $1.36 billion. It says the Authority and its agencies now turn to financing, and the Bay Area Council's president said construction could start next year.

The two sides

Authority board chair Fritz Durst said in its release, "we're ready to move forward and turn years of planning into action." Supporters quoted by the governor's office, from business groups to wetland managers, say the project will capture storm flows for dry years, and that it adds dedicated water for wildlife refuges. The state cites a projected 10% loss of water supply by 2040.

Friends of the River, a conservation group and party to the hearing, says on its campaign page: "Sites is a bad deal for taxpayers and ratepayers." It argues that the state's developed supply would grow by less than 1%, that only 19% is earmarked for local use, and that diversions would harm salmon and raise river temperatures. Its page does not yet address the November 4 decision. A total of 41 parties took part in 32 hearing days, and the draft permit's conditions cover fish flows, water quality, mercury, algae and tribal rights.