Plans to dredge Agua Hedionda Lagoon and place the sand on Carlsbad beaches suffered a setback this week after residents raised concerns about pollutants. The city’s Planning Commission delayed approval of a permit needed for the project, scheduled to start in January, until more information can be gathered about the quality of the sand to be dredged.
In 2015, the federal government issued a decision that temporarily blocked Cadiz Inc.’s plan to sell groundwater from the Mojave Desert, ruling the company would need a permit to build a water pipeline alongside a railroad. That decision by the federal Bureau of Land Management, however, was based on a 2011 legal opinion that railroads could only authorize other types of uses “that derive from or further a railroad purpose.”
Three agencies are urging California’s top water regulators to approve an agreement that would commit the state to following through on its pledges at the Salton Sea, even as state funding for the shrinking lake remains an open question. The State Water Resources Control Board met Thursday to hear comments on the proposed agreement, which sets targets for state agencies tasked with building thousands of acres of ponds, wetlands and other dust-control projects around the lake over the next 10 years.
In terms of how to guarantee a good water supply for Southern California during all these weather changes, I wrote an article for CityWatch recently, “Life Without Water, Or Why the Delta Tunnel Is So Critical to LA.” On September 26 there is a key vote coming up at the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) as to whether the project will move forward with their approval.
A tax on water users that would take from ratepayers such as those in Valley Center to help subsidize water rates in poorer water districts, is on hold, but only until January, when it could be taken up again. State Senate Bill 623 — the water tax measure — is not moving ahead in 2017 after significant concerns were expressed by stakeholders statewide, including many groups from San Diego County. The Assembly Appropriations Committee decided against moving the proposed bill to the floor in late August, effectively pushing the issue into 2018.
The Imperial Irrigation District appeared before the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento Thursday during a public workshop seeking input on the Salton Sea Management Program and a Draft Stipulated Order. According to a press release sent to us by IID, the Draft Order is based on information that was presented to the State Water Board in a petition filed by IID in November 2014, subsequent State Water Board workshops on the Salton Sea, information and documents related to the Salton Sea and the Quantification Settlement Agreement as well as information contained in the Salton Sea Action Plan and Salton Sea Management Program that have been proposed by the Brown Administration.
Even in normal water years, Californians see a large and growing gap between the water we demand and the water that is naturally available. The 2012–16 drought saw surface water and groundwater supplies shrink drastically, sounding a louder wake-up call about the need for more sustainable management of our state’s water resources. Water agencies in Southern California need consistent assumptions as they consider major investments in water-supply projects, especially given limited state and federal funding.
The first of two open houses is scheduled Tuesday on a major pipeline project that could impact residents and businesses in La Mesa and Spring Valley. The $28.6 million project will reline 4.3 miles of pipeline from Lake Murray to the Sweetwater Reservoir, according to the San Diego County Water Authority. Early stages of the work, scheduled to begin later this month, could affect busy Baltimore Drive and Spring Street. The Water Authority said the project could take until summer next year to complete.
