By Ric Ortega, General Manager of Grassland Water District
For those of us responsible for delivering water to California’s remaining wetlands, Sites Reservoir offers a more dependable water supply when habitat needs it most, including in dry years when wildlife has few places to go. Although Sites would be built in the Sacramento Valley, environmental water from the project would be delivered south of the Delta, sustaining the Grassland Ecological Area wetlands and other vital links along the Pacific Flyway.
Grassland Water District has worked for 73 years to protect, secure, and deliver water for wetland habitat, including 34 years working toward the environmental goals in the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), and 12 years to secure meaningful ecosystem benefits under California’s Proposition 1 water bond. The wetland habitat we serve in the San Joaquin Valley is internationally recognized for its importance to migratory birds. Securing CVPIA refuge water supplies remains a challenge for wetlands south of the Delta, and refuge water supply is a dedicated public benefit of the Sites project.
This additional source of refuge water would help wetland managers sustain habitat through dry conditions and plan seasonal deliveries with greater confidence. The measure of success should be water reaching wetlands when it produces the greatest ecological benefit. That requires attention to the entire delivery system: storage, conveyance, operational coordination, funding, and management on the ground. As Sites advances, these all deserve sustained attention.
Public investment in storage should produce visible public benefits: functioning habitat, more dependable environmental water, and greater resilience during drought. For Grassland Water District, those outcomes remain central as Sites moves through permitting, financing, and implementation. We recognize that the Sites project is complex, and scrutiny is warranted as the State considers a large new surface water reservoir. With those responsibilities in mind, we support approval of the Sites Reservoir water right permit as an essential step toward delivering the environmental water our wetlands need.
Partnerships among water suppliers, fish and wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations will help ensure Sites Reservoir delivers its intended benefits. For wetlands south of the Delta, moving Sites forward is an investment in the water that sustains these critical habitats and the migratory birds and other wildlife that depend on them. Our environment needs the benefits Sites Reservoir can bring, and advancing this permit moves us closer to making those benefits a reality.
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Maven’s Notebook.
More on Sites Reservoir posted at Maven’s Notebook …
Posted: November 5, 2026
Detractors of the reservoir includes environmentalists and Native tribes that say they’re being ignored in favor of “Big Agriculture.” By Alan Riquelmy, Courthouse News Service California’s water board on Wednesday granted a permit to the Sites Reservoir project, a 1.5 million acre-foot lake intended as an answer to the problems of a changing climate and the state’s evolving water needs. The decision by the State Water Resources Control Board was a crucial step to make the long-simmering project a reality. […]
Posted: November 4, 2026
Permit balances water supplies, protections for fish and water quality From the State Water Resources Control Board: As California responds to a changing climate, more extreme droughts and floods, and a growing need to store water during wet periods, the State Water Resources Control Board today approved a water right for a new reservoir that incorporates critical environmental safeguards to protect the state’s largest river. The Sites Reservoir Project, located about 65 miles northwest of Sacramento, is an off-stream storage […]
Posted: November 3, 2026
By: Jeff McCreary, Director of Operations, Western Region, Ducks Unlimited; Tim Johnson, President and CEO, California Rice Commission; and David Guy, President, Northern California Water Association California’s water future depends on capturing water when available and putting that water to work when communities, farms, and ecosystems need it most. Sites Reservoir embodies this approach. Combining modern infrastructure, dedicated environmental water, and collaborative management, Sites Reservoir offers an innovative investment in healthy rivers, landscapes, and communities—and a more resilient California. We encourage the […]
Posted: November 3, 2026
Cutting corners leads to a bad project – we all suffer the hidden costs and damages By Keiko Mertz, Friends of the River There’s only one day remaining for the State to divert from its collision course on one of the most consequential and expensive water decisions to be made in our state in decades. On November 4, the State Water Resources Control Board will vote on whether to grant the proposed Sites Reservoir a water right permit, and if […]
Posted: November 3, 2026
By Ric Ortega, General Manager of Grassland Water District For those of us responsible for delivering water to California’s remaining wetlands, Sites Reservoir offers a more dependable water supply when habitat needs it most, including in dry years when wildlife has few places to go. Although Sites would be built in the Sacramento Valley, environmental water from the project would be delivered south of the Delta, sustaining the Grassland Ecological Area wetlands and other vital links along the Pacific Flyway. […]
Click here for the full archive.
COMMENTARY: Sites Reservoir can help sustain wetlands in the San Joaquin Valley
By Ric Ortega, General Manager of Grassland Water District
For those of us responsible for delivering water to California’s remaining wetlands, Sites Reservoir offers a more dependable water supply when habitat needs it most, including in dry years when wildlife has few places to go. Although Sites would be built in the Sacramento Valley, environmental water from the project would be delivered south of the Delta, sustaining the Grassland Ecological Area wetlands and other vital links along the Pacific Flyway.
Grassland Water District has worked for 73 years to protect, secure, and deliver water for wetland habitat, including 34 years working toward the environmental goals in the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), and 12 years to secure meaningful ecosystem benefits under California’s Proposition 1 water bond. The wetland habitat we serve in the San Joaquin Valley is internationally recognized for its importance to migratory birds. Securing CVPIA refuge water supplies remains a challenge for wetlands south of the Delta, and refuge water supply is a dedicated public benefit of the Sites project.
This additional source of refuge water would help wetland managers sustain habitat through dry conditions and plan seasonal deliveries with greater confidence. The measure of success should be water reaching wetlands when it produces the greatest ecological benefit. That requires attention to the entire delivery system: storage, conveyance, operational coordination, funding, and management on the ground. As Sites advances, these all deserve sustained attention.
Public investment in storage should produce visible public benefits: functioning habitat, more dependable environmental water, and greater resilience during drought. For Grassland Water District, those outcomes remain central as Sites moves through permitting, financing, and implementation. We recognize that the Sites project is complex, and scrutiny is warranted as the State considers a large new surface water reservoir. With those responsibilities in mind, we support approval of the Sites Reservoir water right permit as an essential step toward delivering the environmental water our wetlands need.
Partnerships among water suppliers, fish and wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations will help ensure Sites Reservoir delivers its intended benefits. For wetlands south of the Delta, moving Sites forward is an investment in the water that sustains these critical habitats and the migratory birds and other wildlife that depend on them. Our environment needs the benefits Sites Reservoir can bring, and advancing this permit moves us closer to making those benefits a reality.
More on Sites Reservoir posted at Maven’s Notebook …
COURTHOUSE NEWS: California water board approves permit for Sites Reservoir project
Detractors of the reservoir includes environmentalists and Native tribes that say they’re being ignored in favor of “Big Agriculture.” By Alan Riquelmy, Courthouse News Service California’s water board on Wednesday granted a permit to the Sites Reservoir project, a 1.5 million acre-foot lake intended as an answer to the problems of a changing climate and the state’s evolving water needs. The decision by the State Water Resources Control Board was a crucial step to make the long-simmering project a reality. […]
PRESS RELEASE: State Water Board approves water right for Sites Reservoir
Permit balances water supplies, protections for fish and water quality From the State Water Resources Control Board: As California responds to a changing climate, more extreme droughts and floods, and a growing need to store water during wet periods, the State Water Resources Control Board today approved a water right for a new reservoir that incorporates critical environmental safeguards to protect the state’s largest river. The Sites Reservoir Project, located about 65 miles northwest of Sacramento, is an off-stream storage […]
COMMENTARY: The time is now: Sites Reservoir can strengthen California’s water future
By: Jeff McCreary, Director of Operations, Western Region, Ducks Unlimited; Tim Johnson, President and CEO, California Rice Commission; and David Guy, President, Northern California Water Association California’s water future depends on capturing water when available and putting that water to work when communities, farms, and ecosystems need it most. Sites Reservoir embodies this approach. Combining modern infrastructure, dedicated environmental water, and collaborative management, Sites Reservoir offers an innovative investment in healthy rivers, landscapes, and communities—and a more resilient California. We encourage the […]
COMMENTARY: The Sites Reservoir is a bad deal for Californians
Cutting corners leads to a bad project – we all suffer the hidden costs and damages By Keiko Mertz, Friends of the River There’s only one day remaining for the State to divert from its collision course on one of the most consequential and expensive water decisions to be made in our state in decades. On November 4, the State Water Resources Control Board will vote on whether to grant the proposed Sites Reservoir a water right permit, and if […]
COMMENTARY: Sites Reservoir can help sustain wetlands in the San Joaquin Valley
By Ric Ortega, General Manager of Grassland Water District For those of us responsible for delivering water to California’s remaining wetlands, Sites Reservoir offers a more dependable water supply when habitat needs it most, including in dry years when wildlife has few places to go. Although Sites would be built in the Sacramento Valley, environmental water from the project would be delivered south of the Delta, sustaining the Grassland Ecological Area wetlands and other vital links along the Pacific Flyway. […]
Click here for the full archive.
Tags