State Sen. Jim Nielsen and Assemblyman James Gallagher spoke at a rally on the steps of the state Capitol Monday, promoting largely symbolic legislation aimed at expediting the construction of new reservoirs in California.
Gallagher’s AB 311 would insert a clock into the environmental review process for projects funded under 2014’s state water bond, also known as proposition 1. The 370-day clock contained in the bill is binding only in certain circumstances.
Proposition 1, which raised over $7 billion for water-related projects, has been identified as a major funding source for expanding several reservoirs, and possibly creating a new one — the so-called Sites Reservoir — in Colusa County, west of Maxwell.
Chatter also suggests the funding is being eyed to help pay for restoration projects associated with the Delta Bypass Tunnels, part of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan.