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OPINION: A New Approach For Managing California’s Water And Improving The Environment

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Paul Souza, Barry Thom, and Ernest Conant

Water is at the center of California’s economic and environmental health. The need to maintain reliable water supply for California’s farms, families and cities while protecting the environment has been at the forefront of our minds as we have worked to review and finalize a new operations plan for the federal Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.

Together, these projects provide water for 25 million Californians and millions of acres of some of the most productive farmland in the world.

The projects impact but also protect important commercial and recreational fisheries, wildlife refuges, and rare species.

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Padre Dam Water District Set To Raise Rates – Twice

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Residents and businesses in Santee and Alpine who are under the auspices of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District will see two rate increases in the coming months.

The rate increases are scheduled for November and January.

In 2017, the district’s Board of Directors approved a comprehensive cost-of-service study, then approved a five-year plan and budget that showed rate hikes scheduled yearly through 2021-22. The district had frozen rates last year for the 2019-20 fiscal year.

For an average Padre Dam water customer in a single-family house in the western part of the district, such as Santee, bills are expected to go up by nearly $3.50 per month, to $115.75 starting on Nov. 1.

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See And Learn How Water Is Delivered To Your Home

/in , , /by /East County Magazine (San Diego, Calif.)

This Saturday, October 26, Helix Water District is hosting Helix Water Talks, a behind-the-scenes look at how their field operations crews maintain the vast water distribution system that delivers water from their treatment plant in Lakeside to 276,000 people in El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Spring Valley.

The free event begins 8:30 a.m. at 1233 Vernon Way in El Cajon with coffee and bagels and includes a 2-hour walking tour of their operations center in El Cajon. Participants will see and learn how the district repairs broken water mains, installs service lines to homes and maintains water meters.

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Climate Change Making Stronger El Ninos, Study Finds

/in , , /by /ABC Newsby Seth Borenstein

Climate change is making stronger El Ninos, which change weather worldwide and heat up an already warming planet, a new study finds.

Scientists examined 33 El Ninos — natural warming of equatorial Pacific that triggers weather extremes across the globe — since 1901. They found since the 1970s, El Ninos have been forming farther to the west in warmer waters, leading to stronger El Ninos in some cases.

A powerful El Nino can trigger drought in some places, like Australia and India. And it can cause flooding in other areas like California. The Pacific gets more hurricanes during an El Nino and the Atlantic gets fewer.

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Central Valley Water Board Plan to Reduce Nitrate Contamination in Groundwater Gets Approval

/in , , /by /California Water News Dailyby California Water News Daily

Help is on the way, both immediate and long-term, for the nitrate and salt contamination of groundwater basins and surface water in the Central Valley. Although the long-term resolution may be a multi-year process, stakeholders have developed a plan to address one of the region’s most challenging water quality problems.

After more than 13 years in development by stakeholders and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) a plan was approved earlier this week by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to address the buildup of salt and nitrates in Central Valley groundwater basins and surface water.

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Millions of People Are Running Out of Water – How Desalination Plants Are Trying To Fix That

/in , /by /CNBCby Adam Isaak

Today, one out of three people don’t have access to safe drinking water. One reason is that 96.5% of that water is found in our oceans. It’s saturated with salt, and undrinkable. Most of the freshwater is locked away in glaciers or deep underground. Less than 1% of it is available to us. Desalination is an important tool in the fight against water scarcity. Its reliability is becoming critical.

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SDCWA Chairman Is TERC Speaker Oct. 21

/in , /by /Times-Advocate

The Escondido Republican Club (TERC) will be holding its monthly lunchtime meeting on Monday, October 21, featuring guest speaker Jim Madaffer, board chairman for the San Diego County Water Authority.

Madaffer originally joined the Water Authority Board in November 2012. He is president of Madaffer Enterprises, which specializes in public policy and government relations.

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Imperial County Seeks to Declare Salton Sea Crisis A Health Emergency; Wants State, Federal Disaster Funds

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

Imperial County is seeking to declare a public health emergency at the Salton Sea, The Desert Sun has learned, aiming to force Gov. Gavin Newsom and federal officials to free up emergency funds and take immediate action to tamp down dangerous dust.

County supervisors will vote Tuesday on an urgent action item to proclaim a local air pollution emergency due to airpollution at the state’s largest lake, which is rapidly shrinking and exposing shoreline that is potentially loaded with contaminants from decades of agricultural runoff and military testing.

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West Basin Municipal Water District Presents El Segundo Desalination Plant to Manhattan Beach Leaders for the First Time

/in , , /by /The Beach Reporterby Kirsten Farmer

The final environmental study for a proposed desalination plant in El Segundo will soon be released, the City Council for adjacent Manhattan Beach learned this week, when it received its first formal presentation on the potential project — even though the West Basin Municipal Water District first pitched the plant in 2015.

If approved, the proposed $400 million plant — which would border El Porto, in El Segundo — would be capable of converting 20-to-60 million gallons of ocean water to drinkable water each day. District officials have said the plant is crucial to diversifying the region’s water supply, in case there’s an emergency or a severe drought.

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Water Authority Celebrates 75 Years With Member Agencies

/in , , /by /San Diego Union Tribuneby Julie Gallant

Ramona Municipal Water District is among the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that are recognizing CWA’s 75th anniversary.

Denise Vedder, director of public outreach and conservation for CWA, announced the milestone and thanked the RMWD representatives for their support at Oct. 8 district board meeting.

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