Rain-soaked Californians Wonder: Where Are the New Reservoirs?

Californians are asking where the state’s new reservoirs are — the ones voters approved nearly a decade ago to mitigate drought, which have yet to be built — as trillions of gallons of water from recent rains wash out to sea.

For the past weeks, the state has been hit by storm after storm, filling dams and flooding streets and homes. But as the son comes out, and as the runoff disappears, the state is still technically mired in a three-year drought.

That has led some to ask the obvious question: where are the reservoirs that could store the water? And why hasn’t the state built any new major reservoirs in forty years — despite billions in voter-approved water bonds?

In an article titled “Californians approved billions for new water storage. Why hasn’t it gotten built?”, the San Francisco Chronicle reported:

As the state experiences a historic bout of rain and snow this winter, amid another severe water shortage, critics are lamenting the missed opportunity to capture more of the extraordinary runoff that has been swelling rivers, flooding towns and pouring into the sea.

Politico also reported on Monday:

To many, the storms highlight the need for changes to the vast system to capture rain and snow in the wetter northern part of the state and transfer it to the farms of the Central Valley and the cities of Southern California. Much of the recent runoff has ended in the sea, even as forecasters warn that the drought is not yet over.

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The state already has plans to start construction on a new reservoir near Sacramento next year, and to increase pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin region through the Delta Conveyance project.

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The governor suggested federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could help fund water supply and flood risk reduction projects. He also called for a climate bond to fund water and wildfire projects. A 2014 bond approved by voters was meant to help fund new reservoirs and other water projects, though opposition from local conservation groups has delayed construction.

This author drew attention to the problem five years ago — before the drought — in a three-part series on California’s water management problems. In addition to reservoirs, other solutions could include desalination and recycling wastewater.

But state and local officials have not treated the problem as an urgent one — possibly because public interest in water issues tends to wane after rainy winters, when droughts fade into memory.