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NBC 7 Responds Puts San Diego’s Water Department To The Test – Part One

When San Diego city water customers receive a water bill, and they feel the bill is charging them for more water than they used, their options for challenging the bill are limited. One of those options is to have their water meter tested. NBC 7 Responds wanted to know if the city’s water meter testing is treating San Diego customers fairly. After sharing the test results and the city’s water meter testing process with one of the country’s meter testing experts, he said he could not say the tests performed by San Diego’s Public Utilities Department were done accurately.

NBC 7 Responds Puts San Diego’s Water Department To The Test – Part Two

Homeowners in the city of San Diego who find their water bill is overblown have limited options. The city tells them to check for leaks and if the homeowners find none, their last option is to have their water meter tested. NBC 7 Responds wanted to find out if the city’s water meter testing procedure is fair to customers. After filing public records requests for all water meter testing results performed by the city, NBC 7 Responds found the results were incomplete and an expert said those results could not prove if the meters actually passed or failed the tests.

Southern California Water Use Soars Amid New Drought Fears

Overall water use is climbing in Southern California as that part of the state plunges back into drought, driving state and regional water managers as they consider permanently reinstating some watering bans and conservation programs. Gov. Jerry Brown lifted California’s drought emergency status a year ago, after a wet winter that snapped a historic 2013-2017 drought, and the state ended his 25 percent mandatory conservation order. Water use has been moving steadily upward since then, especially in a six-county area of Southern California that includes the biggest chunk of the state’s nearly 40 million people.

What GFOA Is Warning On Alternatives To Advance Refundings

The Government Finance Officers Association’s federal liaison center is warning some members against using interest rate swaps and derivatives as alternatives to advance refundings. In a recently published alert, GFOA noted that the tax law changes enacted in December prohibit the use of tax-exempt advance refundings as of Jan. 1, 2018. As a result, issuers are looking for alternatives. “Issuers should work with their advisors to understand potential new risks and other considerations that may accompany these alternatives,” GFOA said in the alert, adding it, “cautions many entities against entering into swap or derivative agreements.”

California Drought: Water Conservation Slipping Statewide As Dry Weather Returns

As California suffers through another dry winter, increasing fears that drought conditions may be returning, the state’s residents are dropping conservation habits that were developed during the last drought and steadily increasing their water use with each passing month. A new analysis of state water records by this news organization found California’s urban residents used 13.7 percent less water last year in the first eight months after Gov. Jerry Brown declared an end to the drought emergency than they used in the same eight-month period in 2013.

OPINION: Commentary: Commission Must Invest Bond Funds In Water Storage

More than three years ago, on Nov. 4, 2014, 67 percent of voters approved California Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. The nearly 4.8 million Californians who voted for the bond did so knowing that new water storage was crucial for addressing longer and more frequent drought periods, punctuated by flashier storm systems. On top of that, the governor and state representatives have made it clear they consider new water storage a key component in upgrading our water infrastructure.

No Rain May Not Mean A Drought — Yet

This may be great weather for weekend fun, but a continued lack of rainfall has state and federal officials worried about a return of drought conditions, after two wet winters. It hasn’t rained a drop here for more than a month, and none is forecast for the rest of the month. In Hollister, rainfall this winter is less than half the October-February average—about 4 inches since Oct. 1. In Gilroy and Morgan Hill, less than 4 inches of rain has been recorded since Oct.1, which is barely 25 percent of the normal rainfall for the South County.

OPINION: Dreading ‘Day Zero’ As California Drought Resumes

On hearing that Day Zero just got pushed back a couple of months, the casual news consumer might be forgiven for confusing this with a bulletin from the Doomsday Clock scientists who predict the likelihood of worldwide nuclear devastation. But no, that metaphorical clock is still set at two minutes to midnight. Day Zero is the coming time when Cape Town, South Africa will essentially run out of municipal water for its 4 million residents — and for the visitors, too, who have long flocked to the beautiful, cosmopolitan city with a Mediterranean climate startlingly like our own.

Supervisors Adopt New Climate Plan Over Widespread Opposition From Green Groups, Residents

The county of San Diego is bracing itself for the next chapter in a years-long legal saga over its plans to limit greenhouse gases. The board of supervisors unanimously approved on Wednesday its latest iteration of a so-called Climate Action Plan — once again drawing the ire of environmental groups and concerned residents who say elected officials aren’t taking the issue seriously.

Water Board Considering Fines For Water Wasting

Anyone caught wasting water in California may be fined as much as $500 under new rules being considered by the state water board. The State Water Resources Control Board is expected to adopt regulation coming before the board on Feb. 20 that would make it a crime to commit any of seven wasteful water practices — from lawn over watering to street median irrigation. Those rules would take effect April 1. “These are permanent prohibitions on wasteful water uses,” said Max Gomberg, a climate and conservation manager for the state board. The ruling would formally make the rules part of the state code.