Garamendi Introduces Bill to Unlock Federal Financing for Western Water Storage

Last week, Representative John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) introduced bipartisan legislation making low-interest federal financing available for reservoir and drought resiliency projects. This bill (H.R. 2979) would amend the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) of 2014 to make public water projects such as the off-stream Sites Reservoir Project eligible for low-interest, longer-term federal loans from the Environmental Protection Agency. Specifically for California, the bill would unlock nearly $6 billion in low-interest federal financing for western water storage projects, including funds to build the off-stream Sites Reservoir in California’s northern Sacramento Valley.