Fyfe Company System Rehabs Water Pipeline
San Diego County Water Authority identified the need to rehabilitate sections of the pipeline while executing its strategy to make major investments in the region’s water delivery system.
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California’s Mountain Snow Cover is Vanishing a Month Early, in a Worrying Setup for Fire Season
On Monday, California fire officials gathered to launch the state’s annual Wildfire Preparedness Week. The message they delivered was clear: Summer 2020 would not mimic summer 2019, when wildfires mostly remained small and manageable into August.
Escondido Employee Named California Laboratory Person of the Year
The California Water Environment Association has named of Escondido Water Quality Lab Associate Chemist, Oyuna Jenkins as their Laboratory Person of the Year. Jenkins plays a key role in the lab’s safety processes, which ensures a safe and reliable water supply for City customers.
Judge Throws Water on California Bid to Slow Delta Pumping
In California’s eternal water wars, Trump’s push to send the liquid gold from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to farmers in the south was contested by the state and environmentalists in federal court Thursday.
California Agriculture and COVID-19
In recent weeks, we’ve been sharing stories of how California agriculture is adapting under the current circumstances stemming from COVID-19. I have a few more for you here today.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic reverberate through California agriculture, according to speakers at an online forum. During a virtual town hall hosted by chairs of the Legislature’s agriculture committees, economists said changes in diets and buying habits have disrupted every aspect of the farming business. One analyst said agriculture faces a “one-two punch” from the pandemic shutdown and a slow economic recovery.
FPUD Adopts Resolution of Emergency
The Fallbrook Public Utility District adopted a resolution declaring a state of emergency due to the coronavirus epidemic.
A 5-0 FPUD board vote, April 27, authorized Jack Bebee, general manager of FPUD, and Dave Shank, the district’s chief financial officer, to submit any necessary requests for emergency-related financial assistance to the state’s Office of Emergency Services or to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We’re only doing it just because there’s a timeline to submit it,” Bebee said. “Right now, we’re not planning to submit anything.”
San Diego Regional Water Agencies Help Fight Hunger During Pandemic
An effort to bolster food bank supplies and fight hunger in San Diego County is getting a helping hand from the region’s public water agencies.
The San Diego County Water Authority and its member agencies are supporting a virtual food drive in partnership with the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. The campaign allows donors to select and purchase items such as canned meats, vegetables, fruits, peanut butter and oatmeal for distribution to needy residents. To donate, go to www.bit.ly/SDWaterAgencyFoodDrive.
The Water Authority Board leadership launched the effort for staff and Board members in late March, then expanded it by inviting 24 retail member agencies countywide to join the effort to fight hunger. So far, approximately $20,000 has been contributed through donation portals established by the Water Authority and member agencies.
Help fight hunger
In addition, water agencies have partnered with the Food Bank to inform its clients that it is unnecessary to purchase bottled water when convenient, clean drinking water is available 24/7 at the tap for about a penny a gallon.
“The region’s water industry is committed to sustaining our community in this time of acute need,” said Water Authority Board Chair Jim Madaffer. “The San Diego region has come together time and again to meet challenges such as wildfires, and we’re doing the same to provide hunger relief during this crisis.”
Demands for food increase during pandemic
The San Diego Food Bank typically helps feed 350,000 people each month at 200 distribution sites — and demands have skyrocketed as the economic impacts of coronavirus closures ripple across the region.
Donations to the San Diego Food Bank are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. The San Diego Food Bank is a 501(c)(3) organization.
Essential workers on the job
In response to the pandemic, the Water Authority and its 24 member agencies have increased regional coordination and communication to ensure continued delivery of safe and reliable water service for San Diego County. Public water supplies in the region remain safe to drink due to numerous robust treatment processes used by local and regional water providers.
As essential workers, the region’s water and wastewater system employees will continue to work to ensure safe and reliable water services.
Water Costs Rise in Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down many parts of life, but there are some things that can’t be put on hold, like the payment of utilities.
Both Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and Triunfo Water and Sanitation District have tentative plans to increase their water rates by the end of the year. The rate hikes would cover an increase in the cost of wholesale water from the Metropolitan Water District, which provides local supplies.
Metropolitan’s board of directors approved a 3% rate increase effective Jan. 1, 2021, and a 4% increase effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Regulating Microplastics in Drinking Water: California Retains its Vanguard Status
The California State Water Resources Control Board is poised to become “the first regulatory agency in the world to specifically define ‘Microplastics in Drinking Water.”‘ In September 2018, the California legislature adopted Health and Safety Code section 116376 via Senate Bill No. 1422, adding microplastics regulations to California’s Safe Drinking Water Act.
Senate Panel Moves Major Water Bills, Adding PFAS Actions
The Senate’s environment panel pushed through two major water infrastructure bills Wednesday, rejecting a GOP member’s attempt to give Western states more authority over water supplies but agreeing to direct the EPA to set drinking water limits for “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
