Talk:Pacheco Creek (San Benito County)

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Information to be added: New section on Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project

Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project In 2018, the Santa Clara Valley Water District (known as "Valley Water"), Pacheco Pass Water District, and San Benito County Water District were awarded $484.5 million from California’s Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 to expand Pacheco Reservoir from its current operational capacity of 5,500 Acre-foot to 140,000 acre-feet.[1][4] The expansion project involves building an earthen dam made of rock and soil upstream of the existing dam, a pump station, a pipeline, and other related infrastructure. The total project cost is projected to be $969,000,000.[2]

In addition to runoff from the North Fork Pacheco Creek watershed, the reservoir will store imported water pumped from the San Luis Reservoir, which is located to the east along Highway 152 and is part of the Central Valley Project (CVP) San Felipe Division in Merced and Santa Clara counties. The imported water would be supplied by the United States Bureau of Reclamation under contract to Valley Water and the San Benito County Water District.[2]

In a drought or other emergency, the increased storage capacity will supply up to 1.4 million residents with water for a year.[3] Water flow from the reservoir into Pacheco Creek will be managed to keep the creek flowing and improve the quality of habitat for South Central California Coast steelhead trout. Eight wildlife refuges in Central California will also be supplied with water.[2][5]

Valley Water is currently exploring the project design and evaluating environmental impacts under a cost-sharing agreement with the California Water Commission. The draft environmental impact report is expected by 2022, with construction expected to begin in 2024.[3][2]

References supporting change:

[1] Novack, Shawn (2018-07-26). "Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project Awarded $485 Million State Grant". Benito Link. San Benito County, California. Retrieved 2020-06-25.

[2] "Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project". California Water Commission. 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-25.

[3] "Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project". Santa Clara Valley Water District. 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-25.

[4] "Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project". San Benito County Water District. 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-25.

[5] Holtzclaw, Barry (2018-07-17). "Santa Clara Valley Water District a Step Closer to Building $1 Billion Dam at Pacheco Pass Reservoir". San Jose Inside. San Jose, California. Retrieved 2020-06-25. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 765mgr (talk • contribs) 17:02, 8 July 2020 (UTC)