Some San Diego beaches are among the cleanest in the state, according to a water quality report card by a Southern California environmental group. Each year, Heal the Bay releases its Honor Roll and notorious “Beach Bummers” list ranking the bacteria levels found in water at beaches throughout the state. San Diego County had the most beaches on the honor roll with 12 this year — more than Orange County’s 10 and Los Angeles’ two.
The San Diego County Water Authority has hired the executive search firm William Avery & Associates to manage the recruitment and selection of the agency’s next general manager. The Los Gatos-based Avery & Associates has decades of experience recruiting candidates for public and private sector positions. After a competitive selection process, a work group of the Water Authority’s Board of Directors chose the firm to fill the position vacated in March by the retirement of longtime Water Authority General Manager Maureen Stapleton.
AT&T and Government Technology, Techwire’s sister publication, have launched a regional awards program for special districts, with three categories to recognize IT innovation and leadership. An evaluation committee reviewed nominations in the three categories, and California districts placed well in the West region. Nominations were submitted by the public and private sectors, and three categories were available
If there was one upside to the severe drought that plagued California for seven years, it was how the lack of rain and dirty runoff improved beach water quality. But ocean pollution has surged once again at some Southern California beaches because of an unusually wet winter and the effects of the massive Woolsey fire, which added pollutants and worsened runoff. The findings, contained the annual Heal the Bay report card, underscore how much ocean water quality is tied to other environmental factors.
For those wondering if the gates to the Oroville Dam’s spillway will be opened this summer, the answer from the Department of Water Resources is “unlikely.” The DWR said Friday that levels for the reservoir are full, but stable. The current water elevation of Oroville reservoir is 895 feet. Snowpack from the Feather River has mostly melted, while use of the main Oroville Dam spillway to manage lake levels is “unlikely,” officials said in a press release. However DWR did confirm that if new circumstances arise, causing the department to activate the spillway, the public and media would be notified immediately.
Bonnie Ludka, PhD, of Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO), spoke to about 40 people at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve June 15 as part of the their bi-monthly speaker series. Ludka presented the results of her research into the movement of beach sand along the coast and the impact of beach nourishment on the closure of the Tijuana River in 2016. Southern California beaches are experiencing a sand deficit. She explained that beach sand is normally created by sediment flowing from rivers and cliff erosion. Unfortunately, river sand that would normally flow into the ocean is now trapped behind dams that are present in every southern California river except the Santa Margarita river near Oceanside.
Long Beach’s dirty ocean water at Coronado Avenue, north of Belmont Pier, makes in one of the 10 worst beaches in the state, according the 2018-2019 Beach Report Card released Wednesday by Heal the Bay. It’s the first time the beach has made the group’s “Beach Bummer” list. On the bright side, the report singled out the city’s long-term project to restore Colorado Lagoon North, a “chronic Beach Bummer” — on the 10 worst list until 2012 — but dramatically improving in water quality thanks to the work. Throughout Southern California, 95% of beaches received an “A” or a “B” for water quality in the summer. Of 33 Honor Roll beaches with perfect grades, two were in Los Angeles County and 10 were in Orange County. None were in Long Beach.
Just months after California’s deadliest wildfire laid waste to the town of Paradise, hillside residents face yet another costly and potentially dangerous problem. State safety officials have downgraded the Magalia Dam on the hill above town to “poor” condition, and have ordered the dam’s owner to make interim repairs by November on the cracked spillway. It’s the latest in problem for the Paradise Irrigation District, which lost most of its revenue base in the Camp Fire and is still struggling to deliver potable water to its remaining customers. The fire tainted the district’s water supply with the chemical compound benzene, forcing almost all of the few thousand people who’ve returned to Paradise to drink bottled water.
A project that is supposed to eventually provide a third of the city’s drinking water is now held up in court because of a dispute between anti-union contractors and a union-friendly city government.The city was about to open bids from contractors who want to work on the Pure Water project, which will take sewage and make it drinkable.
California regulators have launched a “procurement track” to address potential reliability questions between 2019 and 2024, including whether there are sufficient resources to meet the state’s peak system reliability needs. On June 20, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a commissioner’s ruling that recommends load serving entities (LSE) procure 2 GW of new peak capacity statewide, to come online by Aug. 1, 2021. The procurement track proceeding is a part of the state’s effort to overhaul utility integrated resource planning (IRP). Initial comments are due July 15.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
