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SD County Water Authority General Manager Announces Intent To Retire After Almost 25 years

/in , /by /KUSI News Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Maureen Stapleton announced her intent to retire today after nearly 25 years at the agency’s helm. Stapleton was appointed general manager in December 1995. Since then, she has received awards from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego Press Club and the Association of California Water Agencies for her efforts to keep the county’s water supply stable and healthy. Stapleton tipped her hat to the agency’s Board of Directors and the agency’s “unwavering support of the San Diego region’s civic leaders” in her announcement.

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California Wastes So Much Of Its Rainwater. Here’s Why

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

California’s wet winter has dumped an estimated 18 trillion gallons of rain in February alone. But much of it is simply going down the drain. In what has become a source of much concern in a state prone to droughts and water shortages, the vast majority of rainwater in urban areas flows into storm drains and is eventually lost to the Pacific Ocean.

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Rain, Heavy Snow Expected With Latest Storm In San Diego County

/in , /by /KPBS

A low-pressure system is expected to reach San Diego County Wednesday, bringing precipitation and the possibility of heavy snowfall in the mountains, according to the National Weather Service. Frigid temperatures this morning prompted the NWS to issue a frost advisory that will last until 9 a.m. in parts of the inland valleys and deserts, including Escondido, Poway, San Marcos, Santee and Borrego Springs. The advisory indicates a likelihood of temperatures dropping to upper-20s to low-30s.

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Showdown Over Water Bill Averted, Clearing Way For Arizona To Finish Colorado River Deal

/in , /by /Arizona Republic (Phoenix)by Ian James

Proposed water legislation that might have upended Arizona’s Colorado River drought plan was set aside by a leading Republican lawmaker following a day of tense debate. The dispute over the bill pitted House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who introduced the measure on behalf of a group of farmers and ranchers, against the Gila River Indian Community, whose leader threatened to pull out of the drought deal if the bill went forward.

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Pricing California’s Water During The Drought: Can Rate Structures Provide An Incentive For Conservation?

/in , /by /Water Finance and Management

The relationship between water pricing and water use is more nuanced than basic economic theory on supply and demand suggests. That’s what the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (EFC) found in a recent study on water pricing during the California drought. California’s severe drought and statewide conservation mandate provided an opportunity to analyze the effects of pricing strategies as a tool to prevent wasteful water use. In 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board was charged with implementing a reduction of 25 percent on the state’s local water supply agencies.

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The first rain after a dry period is called the "first flush." It can wash pollutants off hard surfaces. A better alternative is to filter the first flush through your landscaping. Photo: Skyloader.Creative Commons

Capturing the First Flush of Rainwater

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The most important water to capture in your landscape is the first inch of rainfall after a dry spell. This is called the “first flush.”  

Rainfall in dry climates like the San Diego region is often a “first flush” repeatedly due to long stretches between rainy periods. 

The first rainfall washes away pollutants that have gathered on hard surfaces since the last rain. It needs to be filtered as much as possible by landscaping before it goes anywhere else, especially into storm drains that empty into the oceans. 

How much water comes off your roof? 

The shape of your roof doesn’t make any difference. The same amount of water falls on the roof whether sloped or flat. Measure a sloped roof either using an aerial view or from the ground without worrying about the slope itself. Just measure the outside edges the same way you would if it was flat, and calculate the square footage. 

Flat roofs covering a building in one contiguous shape are easier to measure. Some roofs are more complicated. Divide this type of roof into individual squares or triangles. Measure each one at a time, then add the figures together for your total roof area.  

Calculate your potential water capture  

Once you know the total roof area, you can determine the amount of rainfall it generates in gallons, then use the following formula to convert square feet to gallons.  

Formula: Rainfall in Inches x Total Square Feet x 0.62 = Gallons of Rainwater From the Roof 

Example using a 1,000 square foot roof: 1 inch of rain x 1000 x 0.62 = 620 gallons. 

San Diego’s rainfall total for “water year” 2018 was about 3.3 inches. Imagine this amount falling on a 1,000 square-foot roof. The total amount of water runoff during this water year would be 3.3 X 1000 X 0.62 = 2,046 gallons.  

Even in our dry climate, this rainfall adds up to a lot of water runoff. It’s easy to see how important it is to save as much of this water as possible in a landscape designed to be a sponge instead of a brick.  

 

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. 

 

 

 

Storms Cause Millions Of Dollars In Damage To California Highways

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

Recent debris flows and flooding in the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains have caused extensive damage to Southern California roadways, requiring some highways to be closed for months as crews work on repairs that will cost at least $14 million. Last week’s series of storms, including a moisture-packed atmospheric river that slammed the state, has brought consistent rainfall to California, dumping 18 trillion gallons of rain — nearly half the volume of Lake Tahoe.

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San Diego Reservoirs Fill up As More Rain And Snow Moves Into Region

/in , /by /CBS 8 (San Diego)

Forecasters said Tuesday that California’s markedly wet winter will continue to deliver significant rain and copious high-elevation snow to the saturated San Diego area this week. From tomorrow afternoon through early Friday, another cold storm is expected to drop a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch of moisture along the coast, three-quarters of an inch to 1.5 inches in the inland valleys, 1.5 to two inches in the mountains, and 0.1 to 0.2 of an inch in the deserts, according to the National Weather Service.

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Groups working Together To Help Beautify El Cajon’s Hidden Forester Creek

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman

Forester Creek, an 11-mile-long tributary of the San Diego River leading to the Pacific Ocean, was once a major natural feature in El Cajon. But the creek and its three tributaries that flow through the city and into Santee via cement channels is in need of some TLC. Much of the creek is fenced off, hidden behind businesses and residential areas. The waterway is polluted with trash and is considered to have the lowest water quality of any of the river’s tributaries, according to The San Diego River Park Foundation.

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Rare L.A. Mega-Storm Could Overwhelm Dam And Flood Dozens Of Cities, Experts Say

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagun

Scientists call it California’s “other big one,” and they say it could cause three times as much damage as a major earthquake ripping along the San Andreas Fault. Although it might sound absurd to those who still recall five years of withering drought and mandatory water restrictions, researchers and engineers warn that California may be due for rain of biblical proportions — or what experts call an ARkStorm.

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