Gov. Newsom talks Sites Reservoir future on tour of California counties that voted for Trump
COLUSA — California Governor Gavin Newsom was touting his jobs and water plans in Colusa County as he continued his tour of rural communities that voted for President-elect Donald Trump.
Newsom spoke at a rice farm in Colusa which is a few miles from the land where the proposed Sites Reservoir sits, waiting for a groundbreaking.
"We're going to continue to advocate for federal resources. Donald Trump, this is your kind of project," Newsom said.
Newsom added Trump's name to his remarks as the two spar over politics and policy.
"Is this an example of you and Donald Trump having some common ground and could that common ground expedite this Sites Reservoir," I asked Newsom.
"Well. yeah. Look, we did everything as far as permitting on our part as far as expediting," Newsom responded.
Republican Assemblymember James Gallagher said that construction of the Sites Reservoir should have started already and that state agencies like the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Resources Control Board have delayed permitting under Newsom's watch.
"The hold up is Gavin Newsom on Sites Reservoir," Gallagher said. "What we don't need is the governor showing up in Colusa with another binder and another website and more paper and no action. What they want to see is construction and they want to see moving dirt."
The Governor's Office responded that he has done more to expedite Sites than any other administration in state history.
Planned for just outside the city of Colusa, the Sites reservoir would be Califoria's first new reservoir built in 50 years. It is expected to be 13 miles long and four miles wide. When filled, it would hold enough water to serve three million households a year.
"You have simultaneous droughts and simultaneous rain bombs," Newsom said. "So we've got to capture flow."
As of now, the Sites Reservoir is slated to begin construction in 2028 and be operational in 2032.
With Trump set to re-enter the White House, a new chapter in California's long-time political war over water begins.
"We continue to reach across the divide to work together, in the spirit of collaboration and partnership," Newsom said.
