You are now in Media Coverage San Diego County category.

One Year Anniversary Of City Of Riverside-Western Municipal Water District’s Successful Partnership

/in , /by /California Water News Daily

It’s been one year since the City of Riverside and Western Municipal Water District (WMWD) executed a Regional Water Partnership deal that allowing WMWD to purchase surplus Riverside groundwater supplies that are part of the City’s Court-adjudicated water right in the San Bernardino Basin Area. In its first calendar year, the partnership has resulted in a $2.6 million savings for Western and $4.5 million in revenue for the City. It has also brought an additional 2.4 billion gallons of local groundwater to WMWD’s customers, which is enough annual water supply for about 15,000 single-family homes. The deal will also help keep water rates as low as possible in the years to come for both agencies.

Full Story

Down Year Predicted For California Olives After Weather Confuses Crops

/in , /by /CBS (Sacramento)

Olive harvest season is getting started in California and farmers are concerned this could be one of the worst in recent memory. California leads the nation in olive oil production, but now there may be a shortage. It’s a significant setback for a growing industry just two years removed from its largest crop.

Full Story

Shasta Dam To Raise Over 18 Feet

/in , /by /Action News Now (Chico)by Stephanie Schmieding

Construction is currently underway to raise the height of the Shasta Dam by 18 and a half feet, a project that has been decades in the making. The stage of pre-construction is expected to take place in the next few months. Geologists have already begun drilling for core samples on and around the dam to determine the engineering needs for construction. “The cores provide concrete-strict data that contractors would then use for determining how to anchor the new 18 and a half feet onto the existing surface,” said Jon Bader, manager for the Bureau of Reclamation in Northern California.

Full Story

New Desalination Plant On Hold

/in , /by /Voice Of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Plans to build a new plant at Camp Pendleton to make ocean water drinkable are on hold, in part due to falling demand for water, thanks to state-urged conservation efforts. The San Diego County Water Authority had spent $5.4 million on the now-abandoned plan, though it says technical studies it’s already done could be used in the future.

Full Story

OPINION: Long Road Still Ahead To Fund New California Water Storage Projects

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Jay Lund

The California Water Commission recently allocated $2.7 billion from Proposition 1 bonds for eight water storage projects. Proposition 1 was passed in 2014 to fund a range of projects, including the “public purposes” of water storage projects, such as for ecosystem support, flood risk reduction, water quality, recreation and emergency response. Among its many funding provisions, both surface and underground water storage projects were eligible, nonstorage projects were not eligible and Proposition 1 could fund no more than 50 percent of storage project costs. Proposition 1’s storage provisions were driven by the still common notion that expanding surface storage is the major way to end water problems.

Full Story

OPINION: Prop. 3 Promises More California Water Projects. Too Bad So Many Are The Wrong Projects

/in , /by /The Sacramento Bee

We must do more to protect the future of California’s water, but that doesn’t mean just pumping in more money without making sure the investments will have widespread benefits for the public. Proposition 3 – the $8.9 billion bond on the Nov. 6 ballot – fails that test. Voters should say “no.” The measure promises money for quite a few local agencies, nonprofits, private water companies and others, which is great for them. It’s not clear, however, that these are the projects that California needs most right now, or that they couldn’t get the money elsewhere.

Full Story

Los Angeles Reduces Eastern Sierra Water Deliveries Because Of Climate Change. At Risk, Ranchers Say, Is A Way Of Life

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagun

The lush plains east of Yosemite National Park offer a window into a bygone California — a place where sage grouse welcome the arrival of spring with theatrical mating rituals and cattle graze on verdant pastures. For nearly a century, these lands have been made green thanks to annual flooding by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, helping maintain cattle forage and keeping alive a culture of ranching in southern Mono County. But those days may have come to an end in August.

Full Story
The Desert Museum Palo Verde tree is an ideal low water use choice for Southern California landscaping. Photo: Danielle Bardgette/Creative Commons-Flickr trees

More Trees, Please

/in , /by

Planting trees improves water quality by reducing runoff and soil erosion. It’s also good for the wallet. Healthy, mature trees can add an average of 10 percent to a property’s overall value. 

Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30 percent, and can save 20 to 50 percent of the energy used for heating. 

Consider the mature size of the three when you first plant it. At the store, it’s probably in a 15-gallon container, but a small tree will grow into a 30-foot tall tree with a 30-foot wide canopy of branches in a few years. If you have selected a large tree, it could be 70 feet tall and equally as wide.  

Make sure the placement of the tree is sufficiently far away from homes and other structures. Small trees (30 feet wide or less at maturity) should be placed no closer than 10 feet. Large trees (70 feet wide or more at maturity) should be planted at least 20 feet from houses.  

Five low water landscape trees 

The Desert Museum Palo Verde tree is an ideal low water use choice for Southern California landscaping. Photo: Danielle Bardgette/Creative Commons-Flickr trees

The Desert Museum Palo Verde tree is an ideal low water use choice for Southern California landscaping. Photo: Danielle Bardgette/Creative Commons-Flickr

Not sure which trees are smart water-wise choices for the San Diego region? These are five favorites. 

Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) 

Desert Museum Palo Verde (Parkinsonia ‘Desert Museum’) 

CA Redbud (Cercis occidentalis) 

Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamus floribundus) 

Hybrid Strawberry Tree (Arbutus ‘Manna’)  

Consider large shrubs as alternative choices 

California Mountain Lilac grows as a native plan throughout California. It attracts butterflies and other insects. Photo: Wanderingnome/Creative Commons-Flickr trees

California Mountain Lilac grows as a native plan throughout California. It attracts butterflies and other insects. Photo: Wanderingnome/Creative Commons-Flickr

Large shrubs can be good choices for screening unwanted views. But be considerate of the viewshed of your neighborhood. Will the shrubs block a special view for others?  

Several of the best low-water trees and shrubs for screening are:  

Catalina Cherry (Prunus iliofolia ssp. Lyonii) 

Pacific Was Myrtle (Myrica california)  

Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana) 

Tecate Cypress (Cuppressus forbesii) 

California Mountain Lilac (Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’)  

 

This article was inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook available at SustainableLandscapesSD.org. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.    

 

 

  

Largest Bay Area Dam Built In 20 Years Is Finally Finished

/in , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Paul Rogers

After toiling away in the remote hills east of Interstate 680 on the Alameda-Santa Clara county line for seven years, hundreds of construction workers have finally finished the largest dam built in the Bay Area in 20 years. The 220-foot tall dam at Calaveras Reservoir — as high as the roadway on the Golden Gate Bridge soars above San Francisco Bay — replaces a dam of the same size, built in 1925.  State dam inspectors flagged the older dam in 2001 as at risk of collapse in a major earthquake on the nearby Calaveras Fault. If it had failed, state officials estimated it could have sent a 30-foot wall of water into Fremont and neighboring communities, potentially killing thousands of people.

Full Story

$823 Million, 31 Billion-Gallon Calaveras Reservoir Dam Ready For Debut

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Dominic Fracassa

After nearly two decades of planning and construction in the rolling, sun-baked hills of the Sunol Valley, crews are finishing a new, $823 million dam that will be the showpiece of a major overhaul to the Bay Area’s water delivery system. At the northernmost tip of the Calaveras Reservoir, the clatter and roar of heavy machinery fills the air as earthmovers and bulldozers, cutting deep treads in soft soil, line the dam’s sloping walls with riprap — big chunks of blueschist rock blasted off a nearby hillside that will defend the earthen structure against erosion.

Full Story