La Mesa, Calif.—Local high school students were honored for their winning photos at an awards ceremony during Helix Water District’s special board meeting on March 20, 2019. Seventy-four students from four schools entered the annual high school photo contest, highlighting the importance and beauty of water in everyday life.
South Coast agencies purchased more than 27,000 acre-feet of supplemental water during four drought years to make up for lowered allocations from Lake Cachuma and the State Water Project, and for most of those deals, payback includes water in addition to money. Agencies’ so-called “water debt” means that when the city of Santa Barbara purchased from the Mojave Water Agency last year, for example, it was committing to paying back 1 acre-foot of water for every 4 acre-feet it purchased.
Another group of top state officials visited the Salton Sea this week to promise that this time, things will be different and progress will be made to restore the fast-drying water body. The California Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday convened a required annual check-in meeting with a variety of state and local agencies on how and whether efforts to protect public health and restore wildlife habitat are progressing. They met at the lake’s North Shore Yacht Club community center to hear updates and to try to rally residents and experts. Some responded with guarded optimism, seeing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointment of top officials who are familiar with the area as a possible sign of long-awaited change.
As a former member of the U.S. Senate and chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, I was proud to help lead the charge to save the Salton Sea. In December, I was excited to learn that Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris and Congressman Raul Ruiz secured Farm Bill legislation that provides a pathway to federal Salton Sea funding. The federal government owns almost half of the Salton Sea, but has not lived up to its responsibility to stop the public health and environmental disaster unfolding there. This Farm Bill victory allows for a large, stable source of federal funding for the sea.
San Diego public utilities officials said Wednesday that they have implemented most recommendations made by the city auditor last year after thousands of customers were overbilled by faulty meter readers. Some key reforms still need to be implemented, the deputy chief operating officer told members of the city council’s audit committee, and others have yet to be validated by the city auditor. “Eighty percent of the recommendations we have completed, pending auditor review, which is a commitment we made back when the audit was released,” said Johnnie Perkins, the deputy COO tapped by Mayor Kevin Faulconer to oversee reforms at the public utilities department.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
