Better Option: Groundwater Recharge
Groundwater storage presents a more cost-effective, long-term solution for water reliability than raising Shasta Dam. As described above, Californians currently rely on an impressive network of over 1,400 surface reservoirs, which store over 40 million acre-feet of water or a one-year supply for farms and cities.
But surface reservoir storage pales in comparison to the potential capacity provided by California’s 517 groundwater basins. California’s Department of Water Resources estimates the total storage capacity of groundwater basins at somewhere between 850 million and 1.3 billion acre-feet. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that the vacant storage space in these aquifers is nearly three times the volume of all surface reservoirs combined. Moreover, collecting and storing water in groundwater basins costs less than modifying and maintaining large dams and complex conveyance infrastructure. The PPIC estimates the cost of recharging groundwater in the Central Valley at $63-$168 per acre-foot over a 100-year period. In contrast, the California Water Blog estimates the cost of additional water storage in Shasta Reservoir at over $1,700 per acre-foot.
A bad option for the environment.
Finally, raising the dam would compound a number of well-documented negative impacts. In fact, Federal studies of the proposal concluded that raising the dam would increase the already inundated portion of the lower McCloud River by more than one-third. This further inundation would have a significant negative impact on the river’s unique habitats and blue-ribbon trout fishery and would submerge sacred sites of the Winnemem Wintu Native American Tribe. Much of the Winnemem Wintu’s native land was already destroyed by the construction of the original dam in 1945. And the McCloud River is designated Wild and Scenic under the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
RESTORATION