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Winter Storms Raise Reservoir Levels In Nevada County

/in /by /The Union (Grass Valley)by Alan Riquelmy

Just over 4½ inches of rain fell over the weekend in Grass Valley. That’s about three times the normal amount of rain for the entire month of April, the National Weather Service said. The weekend rains are the latest example of precipitation that’s pushed through Nevada County this year, helping fill reservoirs and eliminating a drought that’s loomed over Northern California. Meteorologists said Grass Valley has received 90.64 inches of rain since Oct. 1. That’s compared to an average of 50.74 inches for the same time.

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UC Irvine To Save 50 Million Gallons In Drinkable Water Annually

/in /by /University of California (Irvine)by Tom Vasich, Beth Beeman

Aiming to greatly expand its use of recycled water, the University of California, Irvine is partnering with the Irvine Ranch Water District to convert the school’s central cooling plant to an environmentally friendly system that will conserve more than 50 million gallons of drinkable water per year. The central cooling plant is the hub of the air conditioning systems for 65 buildings at UC Irvine. Recycled water will replace the potable water used in its 4.5 million-gallon evaporative cooling tower, which utilizes a process that drops water through the air to lower its temperature to 39 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Reform Needed To End MWD Overcharges, Overspending

/in /by /The Daily Transcript by Mark Muir

At the San Diego County Water Authority, we scrutinize every dollar to make sure ratepayers get a good return on their investments in safe and reliable water supplies. But that isn’t the case everywhere – and it’s certainly not the case at the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Several steps removed form nearly 20 million residents it serves, MWD overcharged ratepayers $847 million more than the agency’s budgets said was needed from 2012-2015.

As California Lifts Drought Restrictions, Rural Areas Still Lack Running Water

/in /by /NPRby Kirk Siegler

While the deep snowpack in California’s mountains is easing drought concerns, there are still people in the state’s rural Central Valley who don’t have water running from their taps. California Governor Jerry Brown has declared an end to his state’s five-year-long drought. Emergency water restrictions have been lifted for most Californians, but not all. In some of the hardest hit areas in the rural Central Valley, there are still thousands of people living without any running water.

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Reforms Still Needed to Curtail MWD Spending

/in /by /San Diego Business Journal by Mark Muir

Treated water rates set by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have doubled over the past decade, due in part to unrestrained fiscal practices at the agency. Ratepayers are about to be on the hook for a lot more unless MWD’s out-of-control spending can be stopped. The Los Angeles-based district is the nation’s largest water agency, serving nearly 20 million people across Southern California. In San Diego County, our reliance on MWD water has been reduced by more than half over the past few decades due to strategic investments in dough-resilient water supplies.

Metropolitan Water District Authorizes Lake Mathews Infrastructure Rehabilitation Projects

/in /by /Valley News (Temecula)by Joe Naiman

The March 14 board meeting of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California included the approval of three infrastructure rehabilitation projects at Lake Mathews. One project will rehabilitate the electrical distribution system at Lake Mathews, a second project will repair the Lake Mathews forebay and the third project will repair portions of the hydroelectric plant’s concrete structure. The projects are intended to address the aging infrastructure of Lake Mathews and to maintain reliable deliveries into MWD’s Central Pool.

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Wintry Spring Storm Slams California With Snow, Heavy Winds

/in /by /CBS Sacramento

A storm that delivered a body blow to Northern California, endangering homes and leaving 40,000 customers without electricity, rolled through the Central Coast Friday toward Los Angeles. The weather system dumped fractions of an inch of rain in San Luis Obispo County but Rocky Butte, a summit near San Simeon, received nearly 5 inches over 24 hours. Rain was expected to continue shifting slowly southward before the system finally tapers off late Saturday.

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FPUD Board And Audience Given Briefing On Conjunctive Use Project

/in /by /Fallbrook and Bonsall Village Newsby Joe Naiman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The non-voting items at the Feb. 27 Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) board meeting included a presentation on the Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project. FPUD assistant general manager Jack Bebee provided the presentation on the Conjunctive Use Project which will be the subject of FPUD votes for specific actions over the next several months. “It was just to give some background on the project because we have a new board member,” said Bebee.

 

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To Save Water, Some Arizona Farms Temporarily Cut Production

/in /by /Arizona Daily Starby Tony Davis Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

For four Indian tribes that grow melons, wheat, cotton, onions and alfalfa near the Colorado River, fallowing cropland will bring extra money. It will also get the Colorado River Indian Tribes’ name out as a water player, part of the solution to the Southwest’s water shortages. And, says Tribal Councilwoman Amelia Flores, it’s a way to get other cropland into production and to upgrade their irrigation equipment.

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Oceanside Front Yard Gets WaterSmart Makeover

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Chris Ross Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Oceanside homeowner Richard Jaross had two motivations for rethinking his front yard’s landscaping. It was mostly lawn that was not thriving, because of water restrictions. And, to make matters worse, a family of rabbits was eating and digging up the turf. So, when Jaross, who lives in the Vista San Luis Rey neighborhood of north Oceanside, read in the U-T about free WaterSmart landscaping courses offered by the San Diego County Water Authority, he decided to educate himself about drought-tolerant gardens.

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