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San Diego County’s Top Water Officials Call for Cutting Water Use 10%

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Top officials with the San Diego County Water Authority on Wednesday called for the region to voluntarily cut its water use by as much as 10 percent.

The announcement by the region’s wholesaler comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday declared a statewide drought emergency. The state has been calling on urban water users for the last two months to voluntarily slash consumption by 15 percent — 5 percent more than the Water Authority’s new target.

The state slashed water use by 5 percent in August compared with the same month last year. But there were large disparities. While the North Coast cut its use by more than 18 percent and the San Francisco Bay Area by nearly 10 percent, Southern California as a whole reduced its water consumption by just 3 percent.

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Water Authority Prepares to Activate Water Shortage Contingency Plan

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority is preparing to activate Level 1 – Voluntary Conservation of its Water Shortage Contingency Plan in support of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to sustain California after two record-dry years. The agency’s 36-member Board of Directors will decide at its formal monthly meeting on Oct. 28 whether to activate the drought response plan, following today’s recommendation by staff.

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Level 5 Atmospheric River to Unleash Flooding Across Drought-Stricken California

/in , , /by /CNN Weatherby Pedram Javaheri

After nearly a year without rain, a series of potent Pacific storms are directed at Northern California this week, potentially bringing as much as a foot of rainfall and up to three feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada.

Supercharged by a classic atmospheric river pattern, the storms could lead to flash floods and dangerous debris flows in a wide swath of the region already devastated by recent wildfires.
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California’s Drought Sparks Innovation in Santa Barbara County

/in , /by /Santa Barbara Independentby Jean Yamamura

Dry times call for innovative measures, and with California facing its driest year in nearly a century, the privately held water company that supplies Santa Barbara’s Hope Ranch community is floating a unique idea. La Cumbre Mutual Water Company, the affluent community’s supplier, is considering purchasing water produced by an offshore desalination plant contained within a buoy being designed by Ecomerit Technologies.

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Drought: Marin Municipal Water District Allots $23.2M for Pipeline

/in , /by /Marin Independent Journalby Will Houston

The Marin Municipal Water District has allocated up to $23.2 million to buy equipment for a proposed emergency supply pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

The investment, approved by the district board on Tuesday, is the largest the agency has made since proposing the idea earlier this year.

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CA Asking San Diego to Cut Water Use by 15%, Water Authority Ready for Conservation

/in , , /by /ABC 10 News San Diegoby Leah Pezzetti Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom expanded a drought emergency to now include all of California. During the summer, 50 of the state’s 58 counties were announced as part of the emergency declaration. The eight counties that were previously excluded are now included, which includes most of Southern California.

San Diego County is one of the eight counties now added. The emergency declaration encourages Californians to cut back water usage by 15% and asks all local water agencies to implement conservation plans.

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California Just Declared a Drought Emergency. What Does that Mean and How Will it Affect Your Life?

/in , /by /CapRadioby Manola Secaira

As the state experiences its second-driest year on record and Gov. Gavin Newsom declares a statewide drought emergency, some Californians may be wondering: How will this shortage impact the Sacramento region and what does it mean for our everyday lives and water supply?

The declaration comes after a summer of record-high temperatures alongside plummeting water levels in reservoirs. With his announcement, Newsom cited these factors as more reason to “redouble our efforts” toward water conservation.

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Wave. Offshore Wind. Geothermal. Are These the Next Power Resources for San Diego County?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

In addition to renewable energy projects featuring solar, wind and energy storage, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved looking at the potential of wave energy, offshore wind and geothermal to someday provide electricity in unincorporated areas of the county.

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Water Authority Will Ask for Voluntary Conservation Amid California Drought Emergency

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

The San Diego County Water Authority is preparing to ask residents to voluntarily conserve up to 10% of their water in support of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s declaration of a statewide drought emergency.

The action, which requires a formal vote by the authority’s 36 member-agency directors at their Oct. 28 meeting, comes despite adequate local supplies as a record drought grips much of California.

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Hopeful Storms in Forecast for Drought Plagued US West

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Adam Beam

Mired in an historic drought, California is set to get its first significant soaking of the season this week, with storms forecasted to dump up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain in parched parts of the state.

But the rain, which comes after wildfires have collectively burned more than 3,898 square miles (10,096 square kilometers) this year, won’t be enough to make up for all the water California lost over the summer following some of the driest months on record.

Tuesday, state water officials warned one of the state’s large reservoirs in Mendocino County could run dry by next summer. Meanwhile, new data showed Californians lowered their water usage by just 3.5% in July and August, far from the 15% reduction Gov. Gavin Newsom had requested earlier this year.

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