California Water Commission ends second day of hearings without decision on Valley water project funding

The California Water Commission did not make a decision on fully funding the Temperance Flat Project after the second day of hearings on Wednesday.

Last month the commission tentatively awarded the project a fraction of the money needed to build the dam.

Commission staff recommended $177 million for the water storage project. However, backers of Temperance Flat are seeking $1 billion of state water bond funds. The two sides disagree on how much public benefit the project would provide.

The proposal calls for building a dam upstream from the existing Friant Dam above Millerton Lake. It would stand more than 600 feet high and have the capability to store more than one million acre-feet of water.

If commissioners don't vote to increase the project's "public benefit ratio" (the official measurement of how much the project would benefit the state), the $2.7 billion project is likely to be dead in the water.

Hearings are set to resume tomorrow.