My personal connections to the Colorado River run long and deep.
I grew up in San Diego during a time when virtually all of that city’s water supply came from the Colorado River. Given that two-thirds of the human body mass is comprised of water, I carried some 15 gallons of Colorado River water around in those days, connecting me physically to the river.
This summer, the Valley saw only two days of rain — the lowest number of days ever on record.
As we head into fall, ABC15 spoke with Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources Tom Buschatzke about what impact the dry monsoon will have on the state’s reservoirs.
Sun-baked mud is cracking along the bare margins of Lake Mendocino, the reservoir near Ukiah that helps sustain river flows for imperiled fish and supply water to 600,000 people in Sonoma and Marin counties.
The shoreline is about 100 yards out, leaving the boat ramp near Coyote Valley Dam high and dry. No people were in or on the water Monday, and geese were feasting on whatever the lake bed gave up.
A national environmental organization on Monday threatened to sue Gov. Gavin Newsom to halt all new permits for gas and oil wells in the state, saying the governor has failed to protect Californians and the environment from hazards and pollutants released by the state’s billion-dollar petroleum industry.
Microsoft plans to address dwindling water resources in its latest environmental pledge. Microsoft made a new commitment to replenish even more water than it uses for its global operations by 2030, making the company “water positive.”
Six student artists representing three schools in the City of Escondido are the 2020 winners of the City’s annual “Love Water, Save Water” poster contest.
For 29 years, the City of Escondido has provided local fourth-grade students in its water service area the opportunity to illustrate water stewardship through artwork and creativity. The contest is held in partnership with other North County water agencies to promote water conservation and water pollution prevention.
Students must enter their original work with no trademarked characters. They are encouraged to use lots of color and to avoid leaving empty space. Entries are judged on the depiction of the theme, originality, and poster design. Posters cannot be computer-generated.
First place: Gracie Scher, Quantum Academy. Photo: City of Escondido
Second place: Filip Kupiec, L.R. Green Elementary. Photo: City of Escondido
Third place: Angelaiya Nazareno, St. Mary School. Photo: City of Escondido
The top three winning posters will appear in the 2021 North County water awareness calendar.
Taylor Lampman, Quantum Academy. Photo: City of Escondido
Jacob Marshall, Quantum Academy. Photo: City of Escondido
Lilly Gibbs, St. Mary School. Photo: City of Escondido.
The City of Escondido supports local public and private schools by providing the Water Science Education Program to elementary and afterschool programs. The program teaches water science to raise awareness of Earth’s resources through interactive and collaborative activities supplementing each school’s science curriculum and to help meet Next Generation Science Standards. The annual poster contest is part of the program.
Students who will be in fourth grade in the 2020-2021 school year can start planning their entry. The annual deadline is in April. The City of Escondido website has contest rules and the entry form.
For the West this summer, the news about water was grim. In some parts of California, it didn’t rain for over 100 days. In western Colorado, the ground was so dry that runoff at first evaporated into the air. And in New Mexico and Nevada, the rains never came.
Bill Hasencamp is the manager of California’s Metropolitan Water District, which provides treated water to 19 million people. What was most unfortunate, he said, was that, “the upper Colorado Basin had a 100% snowpack, yet runoff was only 54% of normal.” In 2018, a variation happened — light snow and little runoff, which doesn’t bode well for the future.
The San Diego and Imperial Counties Chapter of the American Public Works Association recently recognized a San Diego County Water Authority pipeline relining project for its excellence as a public works project. The award commends the successful partnership between Water Authority staff, the contractor and local agencies working together to complete this critical repair to maintain the reliability of the regional water supply.
California’s water managers have had their hands full keeping our water systems safe and operational during the COVID-19 pandemic. But their work on addressing the fiscal consequences of the deep economic recession is just beginning. Three lessons from the Great Recession of 2007-09 could guide more effective policy responses today.
While Patricia Wood celebrates a top award in landscaping presented by her local water providers, there are probably more than a few disappointed gophers that are not singing her praises. Wood and a team of landscapers spent 2018 and 2019 transforming her 3,850-square-foot lawn, located along a cul-de-sac near Valhalla High School in Rancho San Diego, into drought-tolerant landscaping.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
