At the December 12, Sweetwater Authority (Authority) Governing Board meeting, Steve Casteneda and Hector Martinez were sworn into their four-year terms as Directors. At the same meeting, the Authority;s Governing Board appointed Casteneda as Board Chair and Jose Preciado as Vice Chair for 2019-2020 term.
San Diego County marked a significant milestone in regional water supply reliability Thursday at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant – the delivery of 40 billion gallons of drinking water during its first three years of commercial operations. This is enough water to fill 800 million bathtubs, or 1,820 Bellagio Las Vegas fountains. The plant, which launched its commercial operations in December 2015, provides San Diego County with 50 million gallons of locally-controlled, climate-resilient and high-quality water a day, helping to minimize the region’s vulnerability to droughts.
Representatives from San Diego County and Poseidon Water held a celebration Thursday for the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant producing its 40 billionth gallon of drinking water. The celebration also correlated with the third anniversary of the plant opening. The Carlsbad plant produces more than 50 million gallons of desalinated water each day and is the largest and most technologically advanced desalination plant in the U.S., according to the county.
The newest source of drinking water in our county just reached a major milestone. Around 100 million gallons of seawater are pumped through the filters at the Carlsbad desalination plant every day. Within about three hours that water is purified and sent to the taps. After three strong years, the plant just produced its 40 billionth gallon of drinking water. That’s enough water to fill a billion bathtubs, or fill every floor of the empire state building, 145 times. “We have a ticker in the control room that just spins away as gallons of water go out the door,” said Jessica Jones, a spokesperson for Poseidon, the company that operates the plant.
The desalination plant in Carlsbad is celebrating the production of 40-billion gallons of water since it opened three years ago. That’s enough water to fill the Empire State Building 145 times. Or a billion bath tubs. The “watermark” being celebrated Thursday with a gathering of officials, including former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall and Poseidon CEO Carlos Riva. All sharing a toast with a glass of fresh water produced by the plant.
Representatives from San Diego County and Poseidon Water held a celebration Thursday for the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant producing its 40 billionth gallon of drinking water. The celebration also correlated with the third anniversary of the plant opening. The Carlsbad plant produces more than 50 million gallons of desalinated water each day and is the largest and most technologically advanced desalination plant in the U.S., according to the county.
Representatives from San Diego County and Poseidon Water held a celebration on Thursday for the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant producing its 40 billionth gallon of drinking water. The celebration also correlated with the third anniversary of the plant opening. The Carlsbad plant produces more than 50 million gallons of desalinated water each day and is the largest and most technologically advanced desalination plant in the U.S., according to the county.
Representatives of water agencies from across the West convened here this week for their annual Colorado River meetings, focusing on finishing a drought plan to prevent the levels of reservoirs from continuing to drop. Many of the water managers said they’re looking to Arizona to finish negotiating the details of its plan so the state can sign on and make possible a larger deal aimed at preventing Lake Mead from falling further. Federal officials had expressed hopes that Arizona, California and Nevada would iron out remaining issues and be ready to sign the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan at the Las Vegas conference.
Hoping to head off one of the biggest California water wars in decades, state officials Wednesday proposed a sweeping, $1.7 billion plan to prop up struggling fish populations across many of the state’s most important rivers. Capping 30 days of feverish negotiations, the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife unveiled a dramatic plan that would reallocate more than 700,000 acre-feet of water from farms and cities throughout much of the Central Valley, leaving more water in the rivers and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to support ailing steelhead and Chinook salmon populations.
California is no stranger to extreme weather. The last decade has brought crippling droughts and dam-busting deluges. And climate change is only making the situation worse by turning up the heat during the dry season and supercharging storms during the wet season. Now, a new study suggests rising temperatures also will increase the frequency of strong El Niño events, which often bring pummeling rains across the state. “This adds to the evidence that what we’ve experienced in California over the last several years is consistent with what we can expect from global warming,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University who was not involved in the study.
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