In response to legislative and public requests, the California Water Commission staff is scheduling another round of meetings with Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP) applicants to discuss updated technical reviews that will be posted April 20.

The meetings, set for April 24 to 25, are open to the public and will include commission staff, review team members and applicants.

During the meetings, technical reviewers will walk through updated staff recommendations regarding public benefit ratios for proposed projects and take questions from applicants and the public.

The meetings will help to identify any issues requiring clarification when the commission meets in May to decide the final PBRs.

Each WSIP applicant will have an individual 90-minute meeting with the technical review team.

The facilitated meetings will take place at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, 828 I St., Sacramento, and will be webcast.

Additional information, with the webcast link and additional remote participation options, will be distributed prior to the April 24 to 25 meetings.

The tentative meeting schedule is as follows (meeting times were determined by a random draw, adjusted for travel times) – this schedule is subject to change, a final schedule will be distributed prior to the meetings:

Day 1: Tuesday, April 24

9 to 10:30 a.m.: South Sacramento County Agriculture and Habitat Lands Recycled Water, Groundwater Storage, and Conjunctive Use Program

10:40 a.m. to 12:10 p.m.: Willow Springs Water Bank Conjunctive Use Project

12:10 to 12:40 p.m.: Lunch

12:40 to 2:10 p.m.: Chino Basin Conjunctive Use Environmental Water Storage/Exchange Program

2:20 to 3:50 p.m.: Pure Water San Diego Program North City Phase 1

4 to 5:30 p.m.: Sites Project

Day 2: Wednesday, April 25

9 to 10:30 a.m.: Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Project

10:40 a.m. to 12:10 p.m.: Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project

12:10 to 12:40 p.m.: Lunch

12:40 to 2:10 p.m.: Temperance Flat Reservoir Project

2:20 to 3:50 p.m.: Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project

4 to 5:30 p.m.: Tulare Lake Storage and Floodwater Protection Project

The commission’s staff and technical review team continue to evaluate the applications seeking $2.7 billion in funding under the Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP).

After the commission released the initial staff reviews of the public benefits associated with the proposed projects on Feb. 1, applicants had three weeks to appeal the staff-adjusted public benefit ratios (PBRs) and submit additional supporting information.

On April 20, the commission will release updated reviews with staff-recommended PBRs. The review team anticipates that some of the initial staff-adjusted PBRs will change based on the additional information submitted in the appeal process.

The commission will consider the staff-recommended PBRs at its May 1 to 3 meeting and make the final determination of each project’s PBR. The commission may accept the staff
recommendation, accept applicants’ appeals, or send the recommendation back to staff for reevaluation.

No funding decisions have been made by the commission yet, and all projects remain active and viable in the review process.