California Reservoir Project at Risk of Forfeiting $171 Million in State Funding

The more than $171 million the Temperance Flat Reservoir Project received in 2018 from the state of California's Water Storage Investment Program came with a few strings attached. On January 22, the project would be required to have "completed feasibility studies, a draft version of the environmental documents released for public review, and commitments for at least 75% of non-program funding," according to an article by Chris Austin (commonly known as Maven).

"Each quarter, applicants submit a report informing the Commission of project status as it relates to the Prop 1 requirements.  In recent quarterly reports, the Temperance Flat Reservoir Authority has indicated that it is evaluating its ability to achieve the prescribed schedule," reports Maven.

The entire project will require more than $3 billion to essentially add a dam to an existing reservoir—Millerton Lake, which is created by Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River. "The basic facility would be a new dam in Millerton Lake and a new powerhouse that would generate hydropower as water is released from Temperance Flat into Millerton Lake, essentially impounding water upstream to the downstream face of Kerckhoff Dam, a PG&E power facility," according to Maven. The project would provide a total of 1.8 million acre-feet of water storage capacity when combined with Millerton Lake.

In typical Maven style, the article provides nearly comprehensive detail of the planning and construction details of the project, as well as a path forward for the project to stay on schedule.