[Mick]

Oregon finds a previously-undiscovered aquifer of 21 trillion gallons (3x the capacity of Lake Mead, more than half the volume of Lake Tahoe) underneath Oregon's Cascade Range. The water is at the top of the mountains. The snowmelt in western central Oregon provides water to the McKenzie River, which supplies water to Eugene.

Scientists Uncover a Massive Water Reservoir Beneath Oregon’s Mountains

Meanwhile, one state south, the $1.5 billion plan to expand the Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Contra Costa County, a reservoir which supplies the San Francisco Bay Area -- has collapsed. The state has been pursuing the project for a decade and construction was scheduled to start next year. Water experts considered it one of the most promising ways to expand California's water supplies. No major lawsuits, wasn't controversial with environmental groups. All they wanted to do was raise the height of the dam by 55 feet to 281 feet, increasing capacity from 160k acre feet to 275k acre feet, enough water for the annual needs of 1.4 million people. Costs and water were to be shared with major Bay Area water agencies including EBMUD, SFPUC and SCVWD.

$70 million had already been spent in environmental studies, engineering studies, permitting, etc. Major reason: original estimate was $980 million, costs rose to $1.6 billion. The $453 million in state funds that Contra Costa was allocated but did not spend will be reallocated to six other water storage projects.

‘We shouldn’t have been blindsided’: California officials disappointed over collapse of $1.5 billion plan to expand Contra Costa County reservoir

[Mick]

Oregon finds a previously-undiscovered aquifer of 21 trillion gallons (3x the capacity of Lake Mead, more than half the volume of Lake Tahoe) underneath Oregon's Cascade Range. The water is at the top of the mountains. The snowmelt in western central Oregon provides water to the McKenzie River, which supplies water to Eugene.

Scientists Uncover a Massive Water Reservoir Beneath Oregon’s Mountains

Meanwhile, one state south, the $1.5 billion plan to expand the Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Contra Costa County, a reservoir which supplies the San Francisco Bay Area -- has collapsed. The state has been pursuing the project for a decade and construction was scheduled to start next year. Water experts considered it one of the most promising ways to expand California's water supplies. No major lawsuits, wasn't controversial with environmental groups. All they wanted to do was raise the height of the dam by 55 feet to 281 feet, increasing capacity from 160k acre feet to 275k acre feet, enough water for the annual needs of 1.4 million people. Costs and water were to be shared with major Bay Area water agencies including EBMUD, SFPUC and SCVWD.

$70 million had already been spent in environmental studies, engineering studies, permitting, etc. Major reason: original estimate was $980 million, costs rose to $1.6 billion. The $453 million in state funds that Contra Costa was allocated but did not spend will be reallocated to six other water storage projects.

‘We shouldn’t have been blindsided’: California officials disappointed over collapse of $1.5 billion plan to expand Contra Costa County reservoir