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OPINION: The Drought Is Back

In January 2015, Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency.  Droughts are a recurring theme in California’s climate. It has had unfavorable impacts on not only us but to animals and vegetation as well. We must rely on innovative agricultural tech startups to help our farmers feed a growing population with fewer resources. We, the people, should enforce these types of water management solutions to help deal with this depleting resource.

Customers Sue Embattled Compton Water District Over Discolored Water

Frustrated by discolored drinking water pouring from their taps, four Compton residents filed a class-action lawsuit late Monday against their water provider, Sativa Los Angeles County Water District. The lawsuit, filed at Los Angeles County Superior Court, accuses Sativa of failing to provide quality drinking water, misappropriating taxpayer dollars and causing a financial burden on its low-income customers in Compton and Willowbrook. It comes days before a crucial decision by county oversight officials on whether to dissolve the small public water district.

Hundreds Of Customers Are Still Without Power As Hot And Angry Angelenos Fume At The DWP

Before the scorching heat descended on Los Angeles last week, the Department of Water and Power assured residents it had “adequate resources” to meet the electrical demands of their air conditioners and refrigerators as temperatures rose. It did, in fact, have enough power to go around, utility officials said Monday, after tens of thousands of people had suffered outages. But officials said that in many neighborhoods, its aging infrastructure could not handle the surging demand for electricity as Angelenos ran their air conditioning day and night.

Record Heat Put Thousands Of Californians In The Dark Friday. Scientists Predicted This From Climate Change.

Temperatures shot up over 110 degrees in Southern California on Friday, obliterating all kinds of long-standing heat records, and the lights went out for tens of thousands of customers. Californians were powerless, without air conditioning, in the hottest weather many had ever experienced. Climate scientists have known this was coming, and it may only be the beginning.

Environment Report: It’s So Hot That Even Low Temps Are Setting Records

It’s been hot. That isn’t news. But the heat is, more than ever, unrelenting. When we talk about heat, we tend to think of how hot it is will get at the hottest point in the day. The National Weather Service and others are starting to point out something that’s gotten less attention: Even the lows are record-setting because they aren’t that low.

Water Authority Offers Incentive To Replace Grass

San Diego County residents can receive money to replace their grass with sustainable landscaping through a new program. The San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of California will offer $2.75 per square foot. The idea is to create climate-appropriate yards that save water, reduce stormwater runoff, and lessen green waste. The Landscape Transformation Program includes requirements for grass removal, irrigation modification, and water retention or filtration to support reuse of rainwater.

Water Fosters Innovation Economy In San Diego County

San Diego’s regional economy depends on cutting-edge industries such as life sciences, technology, aerospace, academia – not to mention the vibrant brewing sector. Together, those industries help drive economic prosperity countywide, and they share a basic need: reliable access to water. It may seem obvious, but newly released numbers reveal just how vital a safe and reliable water supply is to the region’s economy. Those five water-dependent industry clusters – life sciences, technology, aerospace, academia and brewing – collectively support daily business sales of nearly $30 million, according to a new report from the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.

Development of the next generation of skilled water workforce professionals is vital to the health of the nation's infrastructure. Photo: Water Authority reliable water supply

Water Fosters Innovation Economy in San Diego County

San Diego’s regional economy depends on cutting-edge industries such as life sciences, technology, aerospace, academia – not to mention the vibrant brewing sector. Together, those industries help drive economic prosperity countywide, and they share a basic need: reliable access to water.

It may seem obvious, but newly released numbers reveal just how vital a safe and reliable water supply is to the region’s economy.

The importance of a reliable water supplyThose five water-dependent industry clusters – life sciences, technology, aerospace, academia and brewing – collectively support daily business sales of nearly $30 million, according to a new report from the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.

And that’s just five industries. Total regional sales supported per day by reliable access to water amount to $482 million. That’s equivalent to 2.7 Comic-Cons every day.

A reliable water supply supports confidence by business in economic growth

Every day, the Water Authority delivers an average of 426 million gallons of water to 24 member agencies that serve 1.1 million households, more than 98,000 businesses, and 251,000 acres of farmland.

“One of the things that I think is really important about having a reliable water source is that it gives people confidence in our system,” Janice Brown, board chair of the regional EDC said during a late-June event to release the study. “And giving companies confidence in our system causes people to have more trust in economic growth.”

Over the past 20 years, the Water Authority has invested $2.4 billion in five major water reliability projects in the region, including new pipelines, dams and treatment plants, according to the EDC report, “The Importance of Water Reliability to San Diego’s Economy.” The total economic impact of these projects has been $4.8 billion over the past two decades.

Water reliability projects generate jobs in diverse fields

Water reliability generates jobs in a wide range of disciplines. Graphic: San Diego EDC

Water reliability generates jobs in a wide range of disciplines. Graphic: San Diego EDC

Regional water reliability projects, meanwhile, supported 1,475 jobs annually over the past 20 years. Just over half of these jobs have been in construction, but they also include jobs in architecture and engineering, retail, the restaurant industry, wholesale trade, real estate and other sectors.

Overall, more than 2,800 people work in the water and wastewater sector at the Water Authority and its 24 member agencies. Occupations include water resource engineers, water treatment operators, environmental scientists, hydrologists, and health and safety engineers.

Nationwide, nearly two million people work in 212 occupations to ensure that safe and reliable water supplies to their communities, according to a new study by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program in Washington, D.C.

Skilled water workforce development critical to the nation’s future

The Brookings report points to a need to diversify the national pool of water workers, more than half of whom have a high school diploma or less but benefit from high levels of on-the-job training that helps them develop transferable skills.

“Renewing the country’s infrastructure requires a sizable workforce, and improving water infrastructure offer enormous environmental and economic returns for residents in every community,” said Joseph Kane, a senior research associate and associate fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and lead author of the report.

Continued development of the nation’s water workforce will be critical as the nation renews aging infrastructure and tackles the challenge of income inequality, the Brookings report found.

In San Diego, regional water and education officials have long recognized that maintaining and enhancing the region’s robust water system will continue to require a talented, well-trained workforce.

Across the region, 58 programs create an educational pipeline for the water industry, according to the EDC report. They include programs at Cuyamaca and Palomar colleges and California State University San Marcos. The Water Authority and several member agencies also help prepare future workers through a regional program that has provided more than 150 paid internships since 2006 – many of which have led to full-time positions. More information about that internship program is at https://www.sdcwa.org/internships.