California is a step closer to building its largest water storage facility in nearly 50 years after a court ruled in favor of the Sites Reservoir project following a challenge from environmental groups.
A Yolo County Superior Court judge issued the 65-page ruling late last week, potentially ending the project’s environmental legal challenges. The relatively quick ruling is in stark contrast to the usually multi-year process of the Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Gov. Gavin Newsom accelerated the CEQA process period for the project in November under an infrastructure streamlining package passed the summer before. He celebrated the ruling in a press release on Tuesday.
“California needs more water storage, and we don’t have time to waste – projects like the Sites Reservoir will capture rain and snow runoff to provide clean drinking water to millions of homes,” Newsom said.
The proposed $4.5 billion reservoir would flood nearly 14,000 acres of ranchland in Glenn and Colusa counties to store water diverted from the Sacramento River through a new system of dams, pipelines and a bridge .
With a maximum capacity of 1.5 million acre-feet of water, proponents say Sites will increase storage amid unpredictable climate fluctuations. Critics warn it will threaten river habitat for fish and other wildlife and lead to minimal water storage benefits.
The lawsuit against the project was filed by a coalition of environmental groups, including Friends of the River, Center for Biological Diversity, Save California Salmon and the Sierra Club.
They argued that the project’s claimed environmental impacts are underestimated and that the state has failed to consider alternatives to achieve its water storage goals.
But the court found that the project’s environmental assessment and consideration of alternatives were sufficient and within the jurisdiction of the Sites Reservoir Authority. The groups have five days to appeal Friday’s ruling.
The court’s ruling marks the first time a CEQA process has been streamlined under Newsom’s SB 149, which allows the governor to certify certain projects for judicial fast-tracking. By law, courts must decide CEQA cases within 270 days.
Sites Reservoir is currently in the process of obtaining permits to begin construction, which is expected to be in late 2026. That includes a water rights lawsuit with the State Water Resources Control Board, for which no hearing has yet been scheduled.
