Amid California’s worsening drought, Pleasanton city officials on Tuesday are expected to declare a local drought and water shortage emergency, and require residents to reduce their water usage by 15%. The Pleasanton City Council will vote at Tuesday’s meeting. In a report accompanying the council’s agenda, staff urged council members to make such declarations after board members with the Zone 7 Water Agency voted to do the same in September. The water agency, which serves the cities of Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon and parts of Dougherty, said Tri-Valley customers are falling short on water reduction compared with 2020.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Chelsea Camposhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngChelsea Campos2021-10-06 11:05:282021-10-06 11:17:44Another Bay Area City Is Poised to Declare a Drought Emergency and Mandate Water Conservation
Congress approved a government funding bill last week that threw $80 million at the Sites Reservoir in California in order to keep the project on track.
The project is meant to hold 1.5 million acre-feet of water for the state to be used during droughts for agriculture, community usage and environmental need, said a press release issued Tuesday by the organization behind the Sites Reservoir.
San Joaquin County communities are having their woes compounded as they struggle with the effects of one historic drought while still struggling with the effects of another.
With constituents concerned about the ongoing drought and resources available, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, hosted a panel of state and federal experts to discuss the critical situation, its statewide effects and best water practices.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Chelsea Camposhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngChelsea Campos2021-10-06 11:03:472021-10-06 11:19:09State and Federal Experts Call for Water Conservation as ‘Exceptional’ Drought Continues,
The federal Bureau of Reclamation has pledged another $5 million toward drought relief in the Klamath Basin as farmers and other stakeholders in the region continue to grapple with a major shortage of water.
Reclamation previously awarded $15 million toward the Klamath Project Drought Response Agency, and the additional $5 million will join those funds. KPDRA is tasked with distributing the fund to irrigators in Oregon and California who are without an external water supply due to the drought. Reclamation said that the initial funds will be distributed on a per-acre basis later this year.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Chelsea Camposhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngChelsea Campos2021-10-06 10:34:352021-10-06 10:34:35Feds Put Another $5 Million Toward Klamath Basin Drought Relief
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is known for damming rivers and building levees to keep waterways at bay. But a new initiative seeks natural flood control solutions as climate change brings increasingly frequent and severe weather events that test the limits of concrete and steel.
It only makes sense to use Mother Nature’s flood defenses as one of the tools to combat destruction from intense rains in the middle of the country and storms and sea level rise on the coasts, says Todd Bridges, who heads the Corps Engineering with Nature initiative.
A new 360-degree virtual reality video tour takes viewers through the planned East County Advanced Water Purification facilities. Participants are immersed in a guided tour of water facilities, where they can control their view by moving their computer mouse or smartphones to any direction in the video they want to see.
Viewers with a virtual reality headset for smartphones can take engagement one step further by stepping into the video. Locations visited in the virtual reality video tour include the Ray Stoyer Water Recycling Facility and the East County AWP Demonstration Facility in Santee, and Lake Jennings in Lakeside.
“Bringing this fun, easy to understand, and immersive tour to East County’s water and wastewater customers is an important and unique educational resource,” said Kyle Swanson, East County AWP director. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we averaged more than 1,000 people annually touring our facility, many of whom were eager students wanting to learn about this important water resource. This virtual tour helps to refill the learning need and will also be helpful while the East County AWP progresses towards the construction phase.”
Residents can participate in a guided virtual reality tour with a presentation and the opportunity to ask questions at 10 a.m., Tuesday, October 26. Sign up to reserve your place on the program’s Tours webpage.
Program representatives will also schedule opportunities for community groups, schools, and scouts to view the video using virtual reality goggles.
Creating a new sustainable drinking water supply
The East County AWP is a collaborative partnership between the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Helix Water District, the County of San Diego, and the City of El Cajon. It will use sophisticated technology to provide 30% of current drinking water demands for East County residents. Photo: East County AWP
The East County AWP is a collaborative partnership between the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Helix Water District, the County of San Diego, and the City of El Cajon. It will create a new, local, and sustainable drinking water supply using sophisticated technology to provide 30% of current drinking water demands for East County residents when it is completed in 2025, as much as 11.5 million gallons per day.
Water purification process
The program will use four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near distilled in quality. After the advanced water purification process, the purified water will be blended with water in Lake Jennings and treated again at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant before being distributed into the drinking water supply. The project eliminates the need to send most of East County’s wastewater to the City of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is treated and then discharged into the ocean.
The Padre Dam Municipal Water District currently imports 100% of its drinking water supply. It treats two million gallons per day at its water recycling facility for irrigation and non-potable uses.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/East-County-AWP-Video-4-SLIDER.jpg6551500Gayle Falkenthalhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngGayle Falkenthal2021-10-05 16:16:502021-10-05 16:44:06Virtual Reality Video Tour for East County Water Project
I am pleased to announce a decision by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Board of Directors to pay the San Diego County Water Authority damages and statutory interest for illegal water charges from 2015-2017, totaling about $36 million. MWD’s vote followed a California Court of Appeal decision upholding earlier rulings in favor of San Diego.
This payment will bring the Water Authority’s cash recovery on behalf of San Diego County water agencies and ratepayers to more than $80 million. An additional award of attorneys’ fees to the Water Authority, still on appeal, is expected to bring the cash recovery to almost $94 million for rates and charges set by the Los Angeles-based wholesaler over an 8-year period from 2010-2017. Adding in avoided rate increases when MWD stopped imposing the illegal rate, brings the total savings for San Diego County ratepayers to almost $140 million over the 10-year period at issue in the cases.
Collaboration with MWD
I want to thank General Manager Adel Hagekhalil, Chairwoman Gloria Gray and the entire MWD Board for taking this important step toward a more collaborative future. This provides exactly the kind of catalyst we need to resolve the remaining issues between our two agencies.
I also want to acknowledge the collaboration with our peers at MWD over the past several months, working together on the challenges we face including the severe drought conditions across California and how to maintain an affordable and reliable water supply for all of our collective member agencies and ratepayers.
The recovery aligns with the Water Authority’s focus on taking all actions necessary to protect our ratepayers and ensure affordable water rates for future generations. Litigation is never welcome or easy and it wasn’t in this case. But our Board felt there was too much at stake and that an independent tribunal was needed to address and resolve our respective concerns.
Ratepayer protection litigation
Announcement of these ratepayer benefits follows the Water Authority’s distribution seven months ago of a $44 million recovery from MWD for damages and interest in earlier 2011-2014 cases. The money – refunded to the Water Authority’s member agencies in proportion to their overpayments – also resulted from the Water Authority’s ratepayer protection litigation in state Superior Court and positioned its member agencies to reduce future regional water rate increases.
Importantly, the court rulings and guidance are also expected to help avoid future potential taxation of San Diego County ratepayers and minimize future disputes over MWD’s rates.
In February 2020, after the Court of Appeal ruled MWD’s “rate structure integrity” clause unconstitutional, MWD changed its rules to allow Water Authority member agencies to apply for benefits. As a result, the Water Authority’s Board of Directors voted to dismiss these issues from the litigation. Since then, the Water Authority has assisted its member agencies in obtaining nearly $500 million in MWD funding agreements including the City of San Diego’s Pure Water project, which is funded by rates paid by all MWD member agencies including the Water Authority.
The Water Authority is currently working collaboratively with MWD and its member agencies across Southern California to update MWD’s long-term water resource and financial plans. MWD’s Integrated Resources Plan, known as the IRP, will be supplemented by a new “One Water” plan intended to represent the agency’s roadmap for the future and focusing on enhanced collaboration with its member agencies.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Gary-Croucher-PRIMARY-View-from-the-Chair.jpg450845Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2021-10-05 15:46:072021-10-05 15:46:07Water Authority’s Ratepayer Protection Case Secures Additional $36 Million Recovery
Jobs in the water and wastewater industry provide stable employment in meaningful careers, delivering a vital resource families and businesses depend on. With half of all current employees expected to retire in the next 15 years, recruitment efforts hope to fill many of these essential positions.
Family ties provide a positive influence in filling these roles with the next generation of water professionals in several water agencies in San Diego County.
The massive electrical storm that hit San Diego County on Monday and early Tuesday brought significant rain to a county badly in need of precipitation. Here’s a sample of rainfall across the region, as compiled by the National Weather Service. A new storm might arrive on Thursday.
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As drought conditions persist statewide, officials with the East Bay Municipal Utility District said on Monday the agency has begun tapping into water from the Sacramento River to boost local supplies.
EBMUD, which delivers water to some 1.4 million people across Alameda and Contra Costa counties, typically draws from the Mokelumne River for its water supply.
The agency said the latest move is part of its drought response.
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