Big new California reservoir on track for $2.2B federal loan

A long-delayed plan to build a giant lake in Northern California has gotten a big boost

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A long-delayed plan to build a giant reservoir in Northern California to help withstand the U.S. West’s notorious droughts got a huge boost on Thursday when the federal government signaled its intent to loan the project nearly $2.2 billion — or about half the cost.

The announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency is the equivalent of being preapproved for a loan. It will take up to two years for the federal government and project officials to negotiate the terms and sign documents before the money is delivered.

The reservoir would flood what’s left of the town of Sites, a town with just a handful of residents nestled in a valley of the coastal range mountains in rural Colusa County. The idea has been around since the 1950s, but its never had the money or the political will to move forward.

Once completed, the reservoir would hold about enough water to supply 3 million households for one year. It would be nearly twice the size of the most recent reservoir built in California, but is much smaller than some of the state’s better known lakes.