The California Water Commission has increased the available funding set aside for three projects in the Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP): the Chino Basin Program, the Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project, and the Sites Project. The decision, made at the commission’s August meeting, offsets some of the inflation that has occurred since the projects originally applied for WSIP funds.
WSIP is funded by Proposition 1, also known as the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Act of 2014, and Proposition 4, also known as the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Act of 2024. The Commission administers the WSIP to fund the public benefits associated with water storage projects. Through WSIP, the State’s investment in public benefits will yield flood control, ecosystem improvement, water quality improvement, emergency response, and recreation opportunities.
The Commission unanimously voted to increase the amount of funding available to the three projects as they have shown progress toward completing program requirements, including providing the public benefits required by WSIP. The Commission’s decision commits funds made available by the withdrawal of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Project from WSIP and the passage of Proposition 4. Funding is conditional upon the project proponents completing all program requirements. The Commission chose not to provide inflationary increases to two projects that had not yet made comparable progress towards completing program requirements.
The Sites Project is a proposed a 1.5-million-acre-foot off-stream surface storage reservoir located in the Sacramento Valley west of the town of Maxwell. Sites will provide new water supplies for North of Delta and South of Delta contractors and wildlife refuges.
The Chino Basin Program is a series of innovative water treatment and storage projects that will modernize regional water supplies, storage, and delivery systems in the Inland Empire. The program will develop and store 15,000 acre-feet per year, as well as build and improve conveyance pipelines and production facilities to maximize recycled water usage in the region.
The Kern Fan Project plans to develop a regional water bank to recharge and store up to 100,000 acre-feet of water in the Kern County. Recovery and use of the stored water would provide public and non-public benefits.
In another unanimous vote, the Commission approved regulations that would remove the $135 million cap on WSIP early funding dollars. This does not change the percentage amount of early funding a project may receive, which remains capped at five percent of the total amount a project may receive (called a Maximum Conditional Eligibility Determination amount, or MCED). Early funding can be spent on activities related to completing environmental documentation and permits, which are required for a project to receive its full MCED.
The nine-member California Water Commission uses its public forum to explore water management issues from multiple perspectives and to formulate recommendations to advise the director of the California Department of Water Resources, and as appropriate, the California Natural Resources Agency, the Governor and the California State Legislature on ways to improve water planning and management in response to California’s changing hydrology. For more information regarding the California Water Commission, visit cwc.ca.gov.
