Sacramento Valley Water Storage and Restoration Act

Sacramento Valley Water Storage and Restoration Act

This bill directs the Department of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to:

• complete the final feasibility study authorized under the Water Supply, Reliability, and Environmental Improvement Act for the Sites Reservoir in Colusa County, California, which shall evaluate the development of the project as a non-federal project whereby Interior may be a participant in the locally preferred project; 
• work with the Department of Commerce, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate the efforts of the relevant agencies and work with the state of California, the Sites Project Authority, and other stakeholders to complete and issue the final joint environmental impact statement and report on the project;
• submit such study and report to specified congressional committees; and
• take steps necessary to ensure that, in return for any federal investment in a non-federal Sites project, a proportionate share of the project's public benefits are federal benefits.

The bill amends the Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act to: (1) authorize Interior to participate in construction of the project if Interior determines that the project is feasible; and (2) direct the Bureau, at the Authority's request, to enter into a partnership agreement for the Authority to provide full project management control for construction of the project or a separable element of the project.

The bill directs: (1) the Bureau to advance the project as a non-federal project under specified circumstances, and (2) Interior to execute a long-term agreement with the Authority for the coordination of operations of the Sites project and the Central Valley Project.

With respect to the Sites project, the Bureau shall: (1) be the lead federal agency for the purposes of all federal reviews, approvals, or decisions required under federal law to allow either the Bureau or the Authority to construct the project; and (2) take steps necessary to ensure that all such reviews, approvals, or decisions are completed on an expeditious basis by January 1, 2022.