Downed trees. Closed schools. Dead power lines. Dust-choked freeways. Frayed nerves. Pinched sinuses. The arid Santa Ana winds made life miserable across San Diego County for a second straight day on Tuesday. But by mid-afternoon, the region had escaped what it fears most: a major wildfire. And that was seen as something of a miracle by the National Weather Service.
For the past week, California has been locked in a tense, daily mix of choking thick smoke and dangerously dry, windy fire-weather conditions. But an end might be around the corner. Meteorologists said Tuesday that two storm systems appear to be developing over the Pacific Ocean, with rain increasingly likely next week for most of the state. “It looks like the storm door is going to open,” said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services in Saratoga.
A water district which serves parts of the Conejo Valley suffered major damage during the Woolsey Fire, but officials say they were able to keep water supplies flowing in most spots as the blaze moved through the area. The Los Virgenes Municipal Water District suffered fire damage to its water filtration and composting facilities. Power outages affected the system, but managers were able to borrow generators from other water agencies to stay in operation.
California voters have rejected Proposition 3, the $8.9 billion water bond, sending a message to politicians. But what is that message? It can’t be that the state’s water problems have been solved. They haven’t been. It can’t be that Californians don’t care about water. Poll after poll shows we do. And it certainly doesn’t mean that more money – and potentially a lot of money – isn’t still needed to modernize our water systems. It is.
Where are the rains of yesteryear? The wet winter of 2017 is a distant memory as the county, like a thirsty desert survivor, staggers into its eighth year of drought. As of this month, the water level at Lake Cachuma, once the main water supply for the Carpinteria Valley, Montecito, Santa Barbara, and the Goleta and Santa Ynez valleys, has dropped back to 31 percent of capacity, a mark the reservoir hit in October 2014, on the way down to a record low of 7 percent in October 2016.
Dangerous wildfire conditions will continue in Southern California into midweek as northern parts of the state see some improvement. Thanksgiving week, a pattern change may finally occur, and that could offer some good news in the form of increased rainfall chances. Firefighting conditions will remain hostile in Southern California through at least Wednesday. Critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions are expected Tuesday, according to NOAA’s fire weather outlook. That means a combination of gusty winds and low relative humidity will lead to the potential of rapid growth for any ongoing fires and any new fires that may erupt.
California voters have rejected Proposition 3, the $8.9 billion water bond, sending a message to politicians. But what is that message? It can’t be that the state’s water problems have been solved. They haven’t been. It can’t be that Californians don’t care about water. Poll after poll shows we do. And it certainly doesn’t mean that more money – and potentially a lot of money – isn’t still needed to modernize our water systems. It is.
The city water department spent $1.8 million more on its “smart meter” program between 2012 and 2015 than the City Council had approved. The kicker? The money went to buy meters from a company that has since told the city and investors about problems with its equipment. In the earliest days of the city’s “smart meter” program, the City Council gave water department officials approval to buy $2.1 million worth of new meters from one company over three years. In the first year of the contract, the water department spent $3 million. Over the next two years it spent another $1 million.
Five rural East County school districts will be closed on Tuesday and SDG&E turned off power to more of its customers due to a second straight day of powerful Santa Ana winds and an elevated risk of wildfires. Before dawn on Tuesday, the wind had already gusted to 86 mph at Sill Hill, an isolated peak in the Cuyamaca mountains, southwest of Julian. Alpine hit 65, mph Descanso reached 56 mph, Julian hit 42, mph and Carlsbad recorded gusts to 38 mph.
One place possesses the fourth-largest economy in the world. Another is home to the fifth-largest. Both places have instituted ambitious energy and climate goals. But one — Germany — is struggling to meet those targets and its citizens pay some of the highest electricity prices in the industrialized world. Is the German experience a cautionary tale for the other place — California? It’s a question increasingly on the minds of some energy experts in the Golden State.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
