California is in a serious drought. The National Drought Mitigation Center’s drought monitor puts most of the state in extreme drought zones for the first time since 2015.
The latest instance of drought has once again put the state’s water use under the microscope to identify opportunities for conservation, a task that’s expected to become more challenging as the impacts of climate change intensify.
To celebrate Water Awareness Month in May and highlight the value of water, the City of Oceanside has unveiled its new virtual reality video tour. The 360-degree video shows the water recycling process that prepares water for Pure Water Oceanside. The advanced water purification project will create a new local source of high-quality drinking water that is clean, safe, drought-proof and environmentally sound.
Sonoma County supervisors are expected to offer their formal support Tuesday for a plan to pump 20% less water than normal from the Russian River for the remainder of the year, preserving dwindling supplies in local reservoirs but making less water available to more than 600,000 consumers in Sonoma and northern Marin counties.
Every spring, California farmers brace themselves for signs of wriggling organisms destined to launch multigenerational attacks on their crops.
Many insect species survive the winter as eggs or larvae and then emerge in early spring as the first generation to feed and breed on millions of acres of California vineyards, orchards and row crops. Climate change will complicate farmers’ efforts to control these pests in complex and unpredictable ways.
As California enters what could be a record-breaking drought, a just-completed nine-year floodplain restoration project at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers offers an ambitious attempt at one mitigation solution.
At a 1,600-acre former dairy ranch called Dos Rios, the conservation organization River Partners removed berms that farmers had originally constructed to protect their alfalfa and wheat crops from the river. It turned fields into seasonal pools where endangered baby salmon and migratory birds can rest, and water can trickle down to refill aquifers. Last month, it planted the last of more than 350,000 native grasses, shrubs and trees — acres of towering willows, flowering elderberry and creeping wild rye chosen to thrive in flood or drought.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday expanded a drought emergency to a large swath of the nation’s most populous state while seeking more than $6 billion in multiyear water spending as one of the warmest, driest springs on record threatens another severe wildfire season across the American West.
The Democratic governor said he is acting amid “acute water supply shortages” in northern and central parts of California as he called again for voluntary conservation. Yet the state is in relatively better shape than it was when the last five-year drought ended in 2017, he said, as good habits have led to a 16% reduction in water usage.
In a stark indication of California’s growing water crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday declared a drought emergency in 41 counties, including areas of the Central Valley that had urged action on behalf of agricultural growers.
Newsom’s proclamation dramatically expands the drought emergency he declared in Sonoma and Mendocino counties last month, and now covers 30% of the state’s population.
“With the reality of climate change abundantly clear in California, we’re taking urgent action to address acute water supply shortfalls in Northern and Central California while also building our water resilience to safeguard communities in the decades ahead,” Newsom said in a prepared statement. “We’re working with local officials and other partners to protect public health and safety and the environment, and call on all Californians to help meet this challenge by stepping up their efforts to save water.”
May 11, 2021 – “Governor Newsom’s latest drought emergency declaration is a grim reminder of the growing water supply challenges across California – and of the value of three decades of our collective dedication to use water efficiently combined with strategic investments that protect San Diego County from dry years. Thanks to efforts of ratepayers, the Water Authority, and our 24 member agencies, we have sufficient water supplies for 2021 and the foreseeable future. Our regional adoption of water-use efficiency measures is a major piece of our strategy, with per capita water use falling by almost half over 30 years. At the same time, the rates we pay for water have been invested in new water sources along with major dams and reservoirs that are showing their worth more with each passing day.” – Gary Croucher, Board Chair, San Diego County Water Authority
To celebrate Water Awareness Month in May and highlight the value of water, the City of Oceanside has unveiled its new virtual reality video tour. The 360-degree video shows the water recycling process that prepares water for Pure Water Oceanside. The advanced water purification project will create a new local source of high-quality drinking water that is clean, safe, drought-proof and environmentally sound.
The video provides an immersive 360-degree look at Oceanside’s San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility in anticipation of opening the first advanced purified water project in San Diego County. The water for the project will be sourced from the reclamation facility. The virtual 360-degree video allows viewers to engage and look all around by simply using a computer mouse or touch screen or moving their phones in order to see all around.
Viewers who have a virtual headset for cell phones can take it one step further by “stepping into” the video much like a simulation. In June, the City of Oceanside will begin scheduling opportunities for schools and scouts to view the video using city-provided virtual reality goggles.
“As we enter into another dry summer, Water Awareness Month provides a reason to reflect on how valuable Oceanside’s investments in water supply reliability and water use efficiency are,” said Cari Dale, City of Oceanside water utilities director. “The 360-degree video is an educational video resource for the community to have a better understanding of the City’s efforts to create local sources of water including recycled and advanced purified water, which will provide up to 50% of the City’s water supply.
“Pure Water Oceanside and recycled water expansion projects are examples of how the City works efficiently to provide safe, local and sustainable water resources while keeping water rates among the lowest in the county for our residents and businesses,” she added.
Pure Water Oceanside is one of several potable water reuse or recycling projects under development in the San Diego region.
The East County Advanced Water Purification project is a collaborative partnership between the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, County of San Diego, City of El Cajon and the Helix Water District. Once operational, the East County AWP will provide up to 30% of East San Diego County’s drinking water demands, or almost 13,000 acre-feet of water per year, while eliminating the discharge of 15 million gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
Pure Water San Diego is a $5 billion project designed to generate 83 million gallons of water per day by 2035, nearly 50% of the City of San Diego’s water demand based on the new 2021 urban water management plan.
The combination of Pure Water Oceanside with the City’s recycled water expansion project exemplifies the value the City of Oceanside places on water. The project will safeguard against drought, provide a local and sustainable source of water, and reduce the city’s dependence on increasingly expensive imported water from the Sacramento Bay Delta and the Colorado River.
Scheduled to be completed in 2022, Pure Water Oceanside will be the first operating advanced water purification facility in San Diego County. The $71 million project will use advanced technology to replicate and accelerate the natural recycling process to provide 3 to 5 million gallons per day to the City of Oceanside.
(Editor’s note: The City of Oceanside is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
This week’s episode of the Advancing Oceanside Podcast from the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce features the San Diego County Water Authority on Water Use Efficiency & Conservation.
Oceanside Chamber host, Hana Gilbert interviews Water Resources Manager Elizabeth Lovsted and Water Resources Specialist Joni German.
Topics included how the SDCWA has saved water by providing programs and incentives, utilizing water-saving devices, advocating for water regulations, and how simply living “WaterSmart”, can help cuts costs and create energy-efficient, water-conscious yards.
