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New Facility Captures Water From Seven Oaks Dam For 1 Million Inland Users

/in , /by /San Bernardino Sunby Jennifer Iyer

A facility designed to increase water supply reliability for the Inland area was dedicated in a light rain at the foot of the hulking Seven Oaks Dam near Highland on Thursday, May 23. Officials used a new concrete diversion box to move water rushing from the dam to a new sedimentation basin and beyond. The water is intended to spread out and seep into a groundwater basin, which officials have said is historically low due to a 20-year drought. Residents from Yucaipa to Colton and users in Riverside County will benefit from the project.

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EVMWD Helps To Preserve Local Bees

/in , /by /Valley News (Fallbrook, Calif.)

Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District is implementing a Bee Keeper First program to help protect local bee populations while ensuring safety within the community through relocating bees found in water meter boxes or at district facilities. Whenever possible, staff will contact a beekeeper to have the hive removed and relocated, through the Beekeeper First Program. The cost effective and environmentally friendly approach was realized through a regional partnership with Eastern Municipal Water District, Rancho California Water District and local beekeepers. Through this partnership, local bee populations within a combined 800 square miles will be safely relocated.

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Water Authority Recommends $1.7 Billion Two-Year Budget

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San Diego – The San Diego County Water Authority’s Acting General Manager today recommended to the Board of Directors a $1.7 billion budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, up 5 percent from the current two-year budget, due largely to increasing costs for water supply, supply reliability and infrastructure improvements.

Water Authority staff also proposed increasing rates and charges for member agencies by 4.3 percent for treated water and 4.8 percent for untreated water in calendar year 2020, attributable to rate increases by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, continued investments in supply reliability, and reduced water sales that lower demand and mean fixed costs must be spread over fewer gallons.

 

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US EPA Approves Price Canyon Aquifer Exemption

/in , /by /KCBX (San Luis Obispo)by Greta Mart

The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved an aquifer exemption for the Arroyo Grande oil field near San Luis Obispo. This enables Sentinel Peak Resources, the current owner of the oil field also known as Price Canyon, to move forward with a planned expansion of wells for both enhanced oil recovery and dispoal of wastewater, or “produced water.” In a decision dated April 30, the director of EPA’s water division said the underground formation beneath the oil field does not, and will not in the future, serve as a source of drinking water due to the presence of “commercially producible quantities of hydrocarbons.”

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OPINION: Never-Ending Tijuana Sewage Nightmare A Failure Of Leadership

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego County residents have in recent days had yet another reminder of the utter failure of the local, state and federal governments in the United States and Mexico to solve an awful ongoing problem. That reminder came in the form of nearly 57 million gallons of water tainted by sewage, carcinogenic chemicals and pesticides pouring into the United States last week via the Tijuana River because of broken, inadequate sewer infrastructure on the Mexican side of the border. This has become a terrible fact of life. Sewage spills from Tijuana have fouled San Diego’s coastal waters for years, and the southern shoreline of Imperial Beach has been closed since November.

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California Senate Announces Safe Drinking Water Plan

/in , /by /The Press (Brentwood, Calif.)

The State Senate has announced a plan to ensure safe drinking water throughout California. The proposal would implement a Safe Drinking Water Fund as outlined under SB 200, authored by Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel). Rather than relying on new revenues, the Senate’s proposal authorizes the continuous appropriation of $150 million annually from the General Fund, with the same level of protections in place that a new fee would provide to ensure the funds are used only to secure safe drinking water in the most vulnerable communities. “California’s drinking water challenges are too urgent to ignore,” Senate Leader Toni Atkins said.

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Late-Season Snow Gives One Last Chance To Ski Tahoe This Memorial Day Weekend

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Dave Zook

It’s been a winter for the ages in Tahoe, with barely an end in sight. In February, Squaw Valley recorded its all-time highest snowfall for a single month with 313 inches (read: almost 1 foot per day on average). The region rolled into a wonderfully average March, and then to a quintessentially warm and sunny spring. Summer looked to be on the horizon, with trails beginning to melt out in April. But then a flurry of mid-May storms arrived, and we’re heading into Memorial Day weekend with boot-deep powder on the slopes. Historically, the Tahoe region has seen active weather patterns through May, with 80 of the last 109 years recorded measuring more than a trace of snow in the area.

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Valley Nut And Fruit Growers Get Relief In China Trade War

/in , /by /GV Wire (Fresno)

Growers of grapes, tree nuts, and cranberries got good news from Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday morning. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide up to $16 billion in aid to farmers impacted by the tariff battle with Chinainitiated by President Donald Trump. A statement from the USDA said that Trump authorized the aid, which is a $4 billion bump from last year. “The plan we are announcing today ensures farmers do not bear the brunt of unfair retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners,” Perdue said.

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A Small City Fights Plans For A Desalination Plant

/in , /by /KALW (San Francisco)by Angela Johnston

These almost unlimited coastal access points are what made Kathy Biala move here five years ago. She’s taking me to one of her favorite walking spots on the shore, but before we reach the beach Biala wants to take me on a little detour. We drive past the wastewater treatment plant, then to the regional landfill, and finally to a sand mining plant — a post-apocalyptic looking moonscape where sand from Marina beaches gets packaged for places like Home Depot, golf courses, and concrete manufacturers. The state determined that it was causing some of the worst beach erosion in California.

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Census Bureau: San Diego Posted 8th Largest Population Increase Among Big Cities

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

San Diego posted the eighth largest population increase between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018 among cities with populations of 50,000 or more, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. During the 12-month period, the population of “America’s Finest City” grew by 11,549 people, a near 1 percent increase from the previous year. Phoenix saw the largest population increase in the country during the period, adding 25,288 people, according to the Census Bureau report. San Diego was the only city in California to make the top 10 for largest population gains in the latest report, while Texas had four cities make the top 10.

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