The Tri-Valley will keep its prominent voice on the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Joint Powers Authority Board of Directors as Zone 7 Water Agency Director Angela Ramirez Holmes will serve a second term as board chair.

The authority board is composed of eight water agencies that oversee the Los Vaqueros Reservoir expansion project. Los Vaqueros is an off-stream reservoir in eastern Contra Costa County that currently holds 160,000 acre-feet of water.

Ramirez Holmes, who was first selected as board chair back in November 2021, will continue in her role after the JPA board unanimously voted to retain its current leadership for one more year at its Jan. 11 board meeting.

"I am honored to continue serving as chair of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir JPA," Ramirez Holmes said in a Zone 7 press release. "This significant collaboration among the partner agencies has allowed us to reach several important milestones, and we look forward to continuing our efforts into 2023 as we get ready to break ground."

The JPA, which formed in October 2021, was created with the intent of increasing the reservoir's capacity from 160,000 acre-feet to 275,000 acre-feet and building a pipeline to connect it to the South Bay Aqueduct.

According to the press release, the Los Vaqueros expansion project aims to "increase Bay Area and Central Valley water supply reliability, develop water supplies for wildlife refuges and improve water quality while protecting Delta fisheries and providing additional Delta ecosystem benefits."

Once the necessary reviews and approvals are done, construction of the project is expected to begin this year and would continue through 2030.

The project was approved for $477 million from California Proposition 1 funds and $164 million for construction from federal appropriations -- the remainder of the funding costs will be covered by additional federal funding and JPA member contributions.