Four years after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers upgraded the flood risk for the Whittier Narrows Dam from high urgency to very high urgency, the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a budget package that included nearly $385 million to fix the dam.
Just when it looked like small drinking water systems in California were finally getting the long-term help they so desperately need, along came COVID-19. The state is peppered with failing small systems, many serving low-income communities without the resources to repair them. At least one-third of those failing systems are in the San Joaquin Valley, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
Southern California Gas Co. is taking its battle with state officials over climate change policy to court, arguing in a new lawsuit that the California Energy Commission has failed to promote natural gas as required by state law.
Each year, the Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation hosts the My Water Pledge, a friendly competition between cities across the U.S. to see who can be the most “water-wise.”
In an economy altered by the coronavirus pandemic, water and wastewater industry essential employees remain in demand. To help people explore their career options, the Cuyamaca College Center for Water Studies program will hold its annual Open House and Student Orientation at distance via Zoom on Tuesday, August 11, at 6 p.m.
Vanessa Murrell, grant manager for the Center for Water Studies at Cuyamaca College, says anyone interested in exploring this career field is invited to participate and learn what makes it such an attractive choice.
“Careers in water are generally recession-proof with accessible career advancements and opportunities in addition to competitive salary and benefits,” said Murrell. “We anticipate more openings over the next few years as water remains a necessary resource for survival and sanitation.”
Murrell says the Open House offers an overview of the program, the degrees and certificates offered, the variety of courses available, details on required California state certifications, and the range of careers available in the water and wastewater industry. Participants will meet professors and current students and can ask questions.
Participants will meet professors and current students and get the opportunity to ask questions. Photo: Michael Barder, CVESD via Twitter
A career in the growing water industry presents an opportunity to earn money while protecting the environment and servicing the community in an essential role. The ability to provide clean, safe drinking water is a complex endeavor and is getting more complex as time goes on.
Skilled water professionals are in high demand as the current workforce ages. Water and wastewater agencies employ more than 60,000 workers statewide, including 5,000 in San Diego County, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Water Research Foundation anticipates one-third of the utilities workforce will retire over the next decade.
In San Diego County, wastewater treatment and system operators earn an average annual wage of more than $66,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Cuyamaca College’s innovative Field Operations Skills Yard is newly updated to provide students with practical challenges they will face working with water and wastewater industry facilities. Photo: Cuyamaca College
Established in 1960, Cuyamaca College’s Water & Wastewater Technology program is the oldest and most comprehensive program of its kind in the California Community Colleges system, educating the state’s water utility workforce for more than a half a century. Its innovative Field Operations Skills Yard is newly updated, and, when students are able to return to campus, will provide students with practical challenges they will face in today’s complex water and wastewater facilities. Currently, fall courses will take place online.
The college works closely with local water agencies. Members of the Cuyamaca College Water & Wastewater Technology Program Industry Advisory Committee include the San Diego County Water Authority, City of San Diego Public Utilities Department, Helix Water District, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, the City of Escondido Utilities Department, Olivenhain Municipal Water District, and other agencies.
This feature highlights water utility employees in the San Diego region working during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure a safe, reliable and plentiful water supply. The water industry is among the sectors that are classified as essential. Dana Gutierrez, Otay Water District Customer Service Representative II, is the Water Utility Hero of the Week.
Maybe you’re brushing your teeth; perhaps you’re rinsing your dishes; you could be watering your plants. When you turn on your faucet in parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, or California, there’s a good chance you’re drawing water from the Colorado River.
Poseidon Water could be headed back to the drawing board to better compensate for the marine life expected to be killed by its proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach.
After hearings this week for one of two remaining major permits needed for the project, several members of the Regional Water Quality Control Board indicated they were dissatisfied with the proposed mitigation for the larvae and other small marine life that would die as a result of the plant’s ocean intake pipes.
Two public agencies in San Diego County were recently honored with communications awards by the California Public Information Officers, a statewide professional trade group of communicators from public sector agencies.
The City of San Marcos received CAPIO Epic Awards for its San Marcos Creek Project groundbreaking ceremony, held December 2019, as well as the project’s logo. The San Marcos Creek Project is a three-year, $104 million construction project to raise the roadways and bridges over San Marcos Creek.
“These awards are a testament to the importance we place on keeping our community informed and involved in key infrastructure projects,” said Tess Sangster, economic development director for the City of San Marcos. The city hired JPW Communications to execute communications activities for the San Marcos Creek project.
In addition, the San Diego County Water Authority was honored with an CAPIO Epic Award for its Water News Network website, launched in mid 2018. Judges lauded the website for keeping stakeholders in mind with design and original content and photos. The water authority said stories from the website are picked up by regional news media on a weekly basis, and the percentage of views generated through organic search has increased 454% since inception.
“Over the past two years, the Water News Network has become a timely and reliable source of news and information about a variety of water issues, projects and programs affecting more than 3.3 million across San Diego County,” said Denise Vedder, public affairs director. “We’re proud to collaborate with our member agencies on this and other outreach and education efforts about region’s most precious natural resource.”
Some Bakersfield residents’ water bills will be fundamentally restructured, with big cost implications, if the California Public Utilities Commission votes Thursday to end an experiment that 12 years ago erased a financial incentive to sell people more water.
Under the proposal, California Water Service and other investor-owned utilities would no longer bill customers a surcharge covering the cost difference between expected and actual water usage.
The CPUC’s consumer-advocacy arm supports the proposal and estimates it would save ratepayers 10 percent to 15 percent, maybe more, on their water bills.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
