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&ROGRAM FOR THE FEATHER RIVER PROJECT f.' . 0021 g March, 1954 The 1952 session ofthe California Legislature appropri- ated $800,000 to the Division of Water Resources of the State Department of Public Works to pursue the studies incident to the Feather River Project, under the general direction of State Engineer A, D. Edmonston. An additional amount of $750,000 was appropriated by the 1953 legis- lature and an amount of $677,056 is being requested for the fiscal year 1954-55. This should complete the studies to a point where a decision can be made as to whether or not the State should proceed with the construction of the project. This program of studies includes the following: I. Preparation and filing of an application with the Fed- eral Power Commission for a license to construct, operate, and maintain dams. reservoirs, powerhouses, transmission lines, and other works of the Oroville Raservoir and After- bay project. 2, Exploratory drilling and tunneling of the Oroville Dam foundation and sampling and testing of constru"tion ma- terials. 3. Topographic mapping of the routes of relocating of the Western Pacific Railroad, Feather River Railroad, state highway and county roads around the reservoir, the 570- . mile diversion conduit route from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to a tributary of Tia Juana River in San Diego County, and a conduit to the south San Francisco Bay area. 4. Design and estimates of cost of the Oroville and after- bay dams, power plants, transmission facilities and fish protection facilities. 5. Evaluation of the lands and improvements inundated by the reservoirs, including the Las Plumas Power Plant of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. 6. Preparation of a plan and cost estimate by the West- ern Pacifi" Railroad Company for the relocation of that company's line around the Oroville reservoir and afterbay, 7. Paper location and cost estimate by the Division of Highways for the proposed realignment of that portion of State Highway Sign Route 24 affected by the project. 8. Field location of about 160 miles of the diversion canal in the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. 9. Geologic exploration of the conduit routes and sam- pling and testing construction materials. 10. Preliminary designs and estimates of cost for the construction of the diversion conduits, appurtenant struc- tures and pumping plants. I I. Investigation of holdover reservoir storage sites and main lateral routes for delivering water to service areas south of the T ehachapi Mountains. 12. Determination of the market for water and power made available by the project and the possible revenues from the sale thereof, iFOREWORD Throughout'California the importance of the ac- tion of the 19~ 1 legislature relative to the California Water Plan ha~ bee~ recognized. However, very few people have the opportunity or the inclination to read in detail the 90-page report dealing with the feasibility of the Feather River Project. This pamphlet aims to answer pertinent and current questions on the proposal. To answer these questions which ordinary folks ask, we have drawn on the state- ments which have been made by various important officials-Governor Goodwin J. Knight, former Gov~ ernor Earl Warren, State Engineer A. D. Edmonston, and others. We have drawn, too, on the report itself. The formal title of the report referred to is "Re- port on Feasibility of Feather River Project and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Diversion Projects .Proposed as Features of the California Water Plan." The report was made in accordctnce with the terms of an agreement dated February I, 1951, between the State Water Resources Board, the California Central Valleys Flood Control Association and the Department of Public Works of the State of Cali- fornia, acting through the agency of the State Engi- neer. Copies of the Feather Itiver report are available from the Documents Section, Printing Division, 11th and 0 Streets, Sacramento 14, California. The price per copy is $3 plus tax. The specific legislation is identified as Chapter 1441, Statutes of 1951 j which added the new Article 9.5 to Chapter 2, Part 3 (Central Valley Project) of Division 6 of the Water Code. 3