One of the biggest coastal wind storms in years walloped San Diego County Monday and ushered in heavy snow that blanketed the region’s mountains and driving rain that nudged wildland areas away from the precipice of drought.
In April, the governor issued an executive order that barred water shutoffs for customers who don’t pay their water bills. State leaders are looking for ways to bail out struggling residents and smaller water systems alike, both buckling under $1 billion in water debt statewide.
Californians have recently endured increasingly aggressive wildfires, rolling power outages, and smoke-filled air for days. Unless the state government changes course, we can add water shortages to this list.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, California has already suffered three droughts during this century – 2001-2002, 2007-2009, and 2012-2016. To address this reality, the state has enacted legislation to require urban water agencies, under penalty of $1,000 fines per day, to increasingly reduce average water use by residents and businesses, without requiring any significant steps to increase water capture and storage during wet years.
Ongoing drought and low snowpack mean that hydro production at two big dams could be impacted, affecting the West’s power supply in 2021.
It’s been raining in the Tijuana-San Diego region since Friday and as it always happens, much of the runoff flows from south of the border through canyons into the U.S. bringing with it tons of trash, debris and plastics.
Only this time, not as much is making its way north thanks to a trash collecting boom system that was set up in Tijuana last week.
A constant agenda item for the Imperial Irrigation District and local growers and landowners has been the payment of conserved water, the On Farm Efficiency Conservation Program. Part of the Quantitative Settlement Agreement of 2003 is the Valley’s commitment to conserve water to send to urban cities on the coast, which the beneficiaries pay. The conserved water was first done by fallowing, which was never a popular direction, but it was unknown how much of the agreed upon water transfer could be done by growers’ efforts.
The second cold winter storm to arrive in the San Diego area over the past week brought more downpours, mountain snow and high winds to the region Monday. As of early Monday evening, the inclement conditions had delivered up to about three-fifths of an inch of precipitation along the coast and in the local deserts, a little more than an inch in the inland valleys, and almost 2 1/3 inches in parts of the East County highlands, according to the National Weather Service.
San Francisco rightly prides itself on being an environmental leader. Given this deep commitment to protecting the environment, the city’s water agency — the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission — should be a leader in smart, sustainable water policy. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. But Mayor London Breed now has a once-in-a-decade chance to turn the SFPUC in a new direction by appointing a progressive, visionary new general manager who reflects the city’s values.
Clear out the gutters. Plan some extra time for the morning commute Wednesday. And don’t even think about heading up the hill for a few days. The biggest storm of the season is barreling down on Northern California. The Sacramento region could see up to 3 inches of rain this week – perhaps doubling the amount of rain we’ve received for the entire winter season – as an extreme storm arrives Tuesday afternoon. The cold, wet system will bring dangerous winds to the region, localized flooding and up to 80 inches of snow – yes, that’s nearly 7 feet – to the summits on Interstate 80 and Highway 50.
Long-awaited federal legislation exempting San Diego from having to get a Clean Water Act waiver every five years has a strong chance of being approved this year, city officials said.
The legislation, which is required for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives 395-4 in November. But the U.S. Senate didn’t vote to approve it.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
