Existing law provides that the Tehama-Colusa Conduit unit of the Central Valley Project consists of a conduit or canal, equipped with related water facilities, extending south from the Sacramento River, at or near Red Bluff, through the Counties of Tehama, Glenn, and Colusa. Existing law requires the conduit to have the capacity the Department of Water Resources determines to be adequate for specified beneficial uses in the conduit’s service area.

This bill would change the name of the conduit to the Tehama-Colusa Canal. The bill would include groundwater recharge facilities in the specified related water facilities, and extend the canal and its service area through the Counties of Yolo, Solano, and Napa. The bill would require the department to consider waterfowl refuges, wildlife, and fisheries among specified beneficial uses in determining, in cooperation with local public agencies in the service area, the canal’s necessary capacity. The bill would authorize specified entities, or a joint powers authority created by an agreement between those entities, to construct, own, and operate the related water facilities. The bill would authorize any joint powers authority to additionally include the federal Bureau of Reclamation.