USDA to invest $449M in Sacramento Valley water supply

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Wednesday announced a USDA investment of more than $449 million to help build an innovative water management system that will increase the reliability of the California water supply in the Sacramento Valley.

The Sacramento Valley produces a significant number of prunes. Sunsweet Growers, a group with 250 grower-members producing prunes, cranberries, apricots and other sun-dried tree fruits, has a significant presence in the area.

“Every westerner knows the saying ‘whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting,’ but President Trump, Secretary Perdue and I are trying to make that obsolete,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. “We all share a commitment to storing and delivering water for farmers, families and commercial users in California. In order to meet the demands of the future, we need to increase our storage capacity and bring our water infrastructure into the 21st century.”

Made possible through U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Facilities direct loan program, the Maxwell Water Intertie (MWI) facilities would connect the existing Tehama Colusa Canal (TC Canal) and the existing Glenn Colusa Irrigation District’s (GCID) main canal. These facilities would increase water management flexibility and improve water supply resiliency for participants during dry years and directly increase the efficiency and reliability of water management in the western Sacramento Valley.

“Modern and reliable water infrastructure is the backbone to prosperity in the Sacramento Valley and across our nation. Under the leadership of President Trump, USDA is committed to being an ally to innovative leaders taking action to rebuild rural infrastructure in California and beyond, which is why we are investing in projects like the Maxwell Water Intertie,” Perdue said. “By working in a collaborative fashion with our state and local partners, we can balance the needs of everyone involved and ensure that the productivity of water in the Sacramento Valley is around for generations of farmers and ranchers to come.”

The MWI includes the construction of 3.5 miles of 12-foot diameter pipeline along with a new pump station that will be used to pump water from the GCID system to the existing Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority’s (TCCA) Funks Reservoir. Exchanges of water from Funks Reservoir to the GCID system will occur through the new pipeline by gravity flow in the reverse direction.  The project also includes the construction of a new 1,200 acre-foot Terminal Regulating Reservoir (TRR) to be constructed adjacent to the GCID Main Canal that will help to regulate flows in the GCID main canal and support the operation of the Maxwell Water Intertie facilities.