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Coronado Considers Building $24 Million Sewage Treatment Plant

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gustavo Solis

Coronado wants to stop using drinkable water to irrigate its municipal golf course. And it is willing to spend millions to do that. On Tuesday, the City Council asked staff to move forward with a proposal to build a $24 million sewage treatment facility on the Coronado Golf Course. Between debt payments and maintenance and operating costs, the plant will operate at a deficit for at least the first 14 years of operation and won’t break even for 30 or 35 years.

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Oceanside Takes Control Of Water Destiny, Preparing To Purify Recycled Water

/in , /by /10 News (San Diego)by Amanda Brandeis

The City of Oceanside is taking control of its water destiny, investing in a facility to purify recycled water from homes. “It’s not being used, it’s really a waste. A lot of that water is going out to the ocean and it’s really a precious resource,” said Cari Dale, Water Utilities Director for the city. This Fall they’ll break ground on the Pure Water Oceanside facility, which will sit right next to the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility. The process uses state-of-the-art water purification steps that replicate and accelerate nature’s natural recycling process. The facility will create between 3 and 5 million gallons per day of high-quality drinking water for the Oceanside community.

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Poseidon Optimism Grows For Desalination Plant But Several Hurdles Remain

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

Poseidon officials, who’ve spent 21 years working toward approval of a controversial desalination plant in Huntington Beach, had a figurative bounce in their step as they emerged from yet another permitting agency meeting Friday. The Regional Water Quality Control Board remains months away from voting on one of the final two permits needed by Poseidon. But the fact the board staff detailed a specific timeline for the board’s permit process — with a final vote penciled in for Oct. 25 — was seen by Poseidon Vice President Scott Maloni interpreted that as a signal that board geologists, engineers and administrators are confident they can work through outstanding issues.

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Forecasters: ‘Potentially Historic’ Flooding Threatens South

/in , /by /The Associated Press by Jeff Martin

Scientists are warning that historic flooding could soon deluge parts of several Southern states along the lower Mississippi River, where floodwaters could persist for several weeks. Major flooding now occurring in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and other Midwestern states is a preview of what forecasters expect the rest of the spring, said Mary Erickson, deputy director of the National Weather Service.

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A $28.6 million project to rehabilitate more than four miles of large-diameter pipeline between Lake Murray and Sweetwater Reservoir was completed in June 2018. Photo: Water Authority

Water Authority Adapts to Overheated U.S. Construction Costs

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Construction costs have surged across the nation over the past year as prices for materials used in construction have risen. At the same time, contractors are struggling to meet project deadlines due to a shortage of skilled workers, construction trade industry publication Constructive Dive reported on March 18.

Those higher construction costs are impacting local agencies, including the San Diego County Water Authority. Agency staff briefed the Board of Directors’ Engineering and Operations Committee in mid-March on how those market changes are driving up costs of infrastructure and maintenance projects.

“The Water Authority will monitor market trends and adjust individual project budgets as required,” said Gary Bousquet, the Water Authority’s deputy director of engineering. “Our planning process includes prioritizing projects, and evaluating the timing or need and scope of projects. We will adjust our project cost estimates to meet changing market conditions.”

Labor shortage adds to increasing costs

A labor shortage in the construction industry is one of several factors increasing costs.

“While construction hiring remained very widespread through January [2019], industry employment gains nationally slowed in February—possibly an indication that the pool of qualified workers has dried up in many markets,” Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors of America, said in a new report.

The report showed that construction employment declined by 1,300 jobs in the San Diego region from January 2018 to January 2019.

“There are many large-scale construction projects underway in Southern California, while at the same time, there is a shortage of skilled and unskilled labor, which means greater competition for those workers,” said Brent Fountain, a principal engineer with the Water Authority. “In addition, increasing prices for materials are impacting the costs for both maintenance and capital projects.”

Water Authority project bids from contractors in 2018 ranged from $200,000 to $6 million over the project costs estimated by the Water Authority, according to Fountain.

Contractors bid above estimates in 2018

: In 2018, the Water Authority received 2-to-5 bids for projects, and the bids were all well-above agency estimates. Graphic: Water Authority

In 2018, the Water Authority received 2-to-5 bids for projects, and the bids were all well-above agency estimates. Graphic: Water Authority

“We’ve received fewer bids at higher bid amounts from contractors for several projects in the past eight months,” he said. “The Water Authority generally had more bids and bid amounts closer to our project cost estimates, from 2014 through 2017.”

In previous years, bid amounts were typically closer to project cost estimates and sometimes the bids came in well below the estimates.

Contractors bid below estimates in prior years

From October 2014 through June 2017, the Water Authority received 3-to-7 bids for projects, and the bids were all below agency estimates. Graphic: Water Authority

From October 2014 through June 2017, the Water Authority received 3-to-7 bids for projects, and the bids were all below agency estimates. Graphic: Water Authority

Bousquet said the agency will monitor construction industry cost trends as it continues pioneering projects to serve the region.

“The Water Authority has made an array of innovative infrastructure investments over the past 25 years, including some of the largest projects in the history of the agency, to sustain the $231 billion regional economy,” said Bousquet. “We will continue to develop cost-effective projects to provide a safe and reliable wholesale water supply to San Diego residents.”

California Governor Pushes For Fee To Clean Up Tainted Water

/in , , /by /The Associated Press by Kathleen Ronayne

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to charge California water customers up to $10 per month to help clean up contaminated water in low-income and rural areas, but he will face resistance from some legislative Democrats hesitant to impose new taxes. The Democratic governor says up to 1 million California residents have some type of contaminated or unclean water coming through their taps that can cause health issues. He has called it “a moral disgrace and a medical emergency.”

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FEMA Details Why It Rejected State’s Request For Oroville Spillway Funds

/in , /by /KQED (San Francisco)by Dan Brekke

Federal emergency relief officials have provided new details on their decision to reject California’s request to reimburse the state for work to rebuild and reinforce the badly damaged spillways at Oroville Dam. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced earlier this month that it would not reimburse the state for $306 million in construction on the spillways, which failed in February 2017 and prompted mandatory evacuation orders for 188,000 people living downstream of the nation’s tallest dam.

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2019 State Water Project Allocation Increased To 70 Percent

/in , , /by /23ABC (Bakersfield)by Kelly Broderick

The California Department of Water Resources announced today that public water agencies are now projected to receive 70 percent of contracted water supplies from the State Water Project this year. According to the Department, the 35 percent increase from the past month was due to a nearly constant wet hydrology over the winter, and DWR staff, who have worked tirelessly to keep the State Water Project operating safely and efficiently.

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SB 559 Would Unblock Valley’s Major Water Artery

/in , , /by /The Sun-Gazette (Exeter, Calif.)

A collection of legislators are taking another shot at getting state money to repair the canal carrying water to thousands of farms and several cities along the Valley’s eastside. Earlier this month, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), representing the 14th Senate District encompassing part of Tulare County, along with principal co-authors Senator Andreas Borgeas (R-Fresno), Assemblymember Devon Mathis (R-Visalia), Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), and Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield), gathered along the Friant-Kern Canal in Terra Bella to announce the introduction of Senate Bill 559. The bipartisan supported legislation will secure California’s water supply by investing $400 million in general funds to repair subsidence in the canal caused during the historic drought. 

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California’s Drought May Be Over, But Its Trees Are Still Dying

/in , /by /ABC10 (Sacramento)

Every year, the United States Department of Agriculture surveys California’s forests. Government and private forestry staff take to the skies in various aircraft to sketch out maps of the state’s dying, defoliating and damaged trees. And every year, the data they compile from these observations show that more of California’s forests are dying. This year no different. The numbers from the 2018 USDA Forest Health Aerial Survey released in February show that 2018’s below average rainfall slowed the forests’ recovery from drought and diseases.

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