Glimmer of hope for Stanislaus-area water storage in federal infrastructure deal
Whenever politicians are asked about the California water wars that threaten our well-being in Modesto and Stanislaus County, eventually the talk gets around to something like, “Well, you know what we really need is more water storage.” As in dams, mostly, and also off-stream reservoirs holding water captured in wet years for use in dry ones.
They say something similar when reporters ask about drought, and sometimes about wildfires and climate change.
I’m tempted to roll my eyes, because everyone has always said the same thing for the three decades-plus I’ve been in journalism in this Central Valley. But nothing ever changes.
New Melones Reservoir on the Stanislaus River was the last major dam built in California, in 1979, and two-thirds of the state’s dams are at least 50 years old. In more than a generation, we’ve seen nothing new despite big talk from countless bigwigs who are fast to identify the cure and slow to admit reality — that the environmental lobby is powerful, and that water projects are just ungodly expensive.
Then-new Congressman Josh Harder of Turlock piqued a fair amount of interest when he first trotted out the vision of a future dam in Del Puerto Canyon near Patterson, in April 2019. But it would needs lots of money in a time when little seemed available.
Until now, maybe.
Tuesday’s landmark U.S. Senate approval of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill feels like a turning point. Finally, government seems willing to move beyond lip service and dedicate meaningful funding to something we’ve needed for so long.
It’s not a small thing, in a time of bitter partisan divide, that 19 Senate Republicans found enough in the bill to support it, joining all 50 Democrats. The bipartisan embrace is noteworthy and encouraging.
Harder deserves some recognition. He presented a wishlist for the infrastructure bill back in March, with water projects at the top, and at an April House Appropriations hearing, he pushed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to include the Del Puerto project in the package.
In June, Harder said he and House Republican Rep. David Valadao of Hanford were behind a letter urging congressional leaders to make sure water storage funding got into the bill. Two other California GOP representatives signed on, as well as seven Democrats. That was impressive, and we should give credit where it’s due.
It started to feel real when the White House on July 28 released the actual text of the infrastructure compromise, confirming in black and white our hopes for water storage funding. But the most significant corner-turn came Tuesday with the Senate vote, because everyone assumes some version will sail through the House once it’s back in session, in September.
Applause for infrastructure deal
Specifically, the infrastructure deal provides $8.3 billion for water projects in western states, including $1.15 billion earmarked just for water storage.
“Today is an important day for our community,” Harder agreed Tuesday. Of bipartisan cooperation, he told The Modesto Bee, “That’s what I came to D.C. to do. We’re rounding the final bend, and I’m going to keep pushing to make sure this package gets across the finish line.”
People here will see actual results of Tuesday’s vote in other things — like spending on roads and bridges, and probably broadband and maybe even new water pipes — long before California welcomes a new dam. That’s still years off, if not decades.
And I should note that the Del Puerto project is not identified by name in the bill. So more work remains to be done — a lot more.
And growers face more immediate challenges, particularly in recent sobering news that an appointed Sacramento bureaucrat in theory could decide whether our farmers will get river water if the drought persists next year.
But those looking for even a glimmer of hope for California water storage on Tuesday finally found one.
