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"A long-talked-about plan to build a reservoir in the coastal hills of Colusa County received a new push Wednesday.Photos: Sites reservoir locationTwo Northern California congressmen held a news conference in Maxwell to announce they were introducing legislation that would have the federal government study the feasibility of the Sites reservoir project.Watch report:\u00A0Officials discuss building new reservoir in Colusa Co.Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, and Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, said their legislation did not include any funding for the project, which they estimated to cost between $2 million and $3 million.\"Once the studies, the feasibilities can be put into a nice little package with a bow on it, then at that point, it will be deemed as authorized,\" LaMalfa said.Located about 10 miles west of the town of Maxwell, the Sites reservoir would hold up to 1.9 million acre feet of water -- nearly twice as much as Folsom Lake.It would require the building of two dams, a pipeline, and a pumping station that would draw water from the Sacramento River during wet months and release it back into the river during dry months.\"The construction cost is insignificant compared to the cost of not preparing for the drought,\" Garamendi said.Garamendi said the federal study, if approved by Congress, would be completed in the next six months.He said it would determine what agency would operate the reservoir and who would pay for it.He said the Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to 17 million people in Southern California, has expressed interest in contributing to the funding.\"If they have the money, they could get the water,\" said Fritz Durst, chairman of a Joint Powers Authority for the project.However, Durst said local leaders decided to spearhead the project as a way to maintain some control over it and receive at least a portion of the water.\"That was our main concern,\" Durst said. \"If we didn't take charge of this project early on, there's the opportunity for people to have the benefit of this water out of our region.\"The Sierra Club of California said it is opposed to the Sites project.\"This site has been a controversial site for the environmental community for many years,\" said Kathryn Phillips, president of the Sierra Club of California. \"If you put (water) back into the river in a way that it's warm water going into a cold-river stream at a time when the salmon are making their run, you're going to be killing all the fish.\"Because it is not located on any major river, the Site reservoir would play only a minor role in flood protection.It would permanently flood about 10 homes.Jackie Kerhoulas, 91, said she has lived in the area for more than 20 years and is not worried about the project.\"Because they've been doing this, surveying and everything since 1945. What makes you think it's going to do anything now?\" she said."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.kcra.com/article/sites-reservoir-plan-gets-new-push/6412337>