You may have seen it on social media or heard it while talking to a friend: This is a La Niña year, so California won’t get any rain this winter and the severe drought is only going to get worse. Right?
Maybe not. Although that’s a common belief, it’s not supported by past history. The reality is that a lot depends on where you live.
The Top Workplaces survey identified these companies as the best mid-size companies in 2021 included the San Diego County Water Authority.
The employee engagement survey of 24 questions gathers responses regarding issues relating to workplace culture:· Alignment – where the company is headed, its values, cooperation, effective meetings· Coaching – managers care about concerns, are helpful, encourage employee development· Connection – employees feel appreciated, work is meaningful, working at full potential, feel informed· Engagement – productivity, retention, recruiting· Leadership – confidence in company leaders· Performance – execution, open-mindedness, innovation, clued-in leadership· The Basics – pay, benefits, work/life flexibility, training, expectationsEmployers that score high enough are recognized as Top Workplaces. Employers are ranked within size groups to accurately compare results. Energage also determines special award winners based on standout scores on specific survey topics.Wonder why a particular company was not on the list? Perhaps it chose not to participate, or it did not score well enough in the survey. Energage sometimes disqualifies employers based on questionable results detected through statistical tests it runs to ensure organizations are accurately administering the survey.
Drivers heading into downtown San Diego faced a traffic nightmare Monday morning after two water mains burst Sunday, leaving a section of northbound Interstate 5 under water.
Starting around 11 p.m., all traffic on north I-5 was being diverted to north state Route 163. Crews were working to pump water out of the flooded lanes but no estimates were given as to when the freeway lanes would be driveable.
Caught in one of the driest two-year stretches in state history and with long-range weather forecasts coming up mostly empty, the key players battling California’s drought have plenty to be concerned about.
Whether it’s plunging reservoir levels, crumbling canals, empty wells or salmon die-offs, the water woes that have plagued the state for decades have returned forcefully during the pandemic.
The West could be facing a water shortage in the Colorado River that threatens a century-old agreement between states that share the dwindling resource.
That possibility once felt far off, but could come earlier than expected. One prominent water and climate scientist is sounding the alarm that the Colorado River system could reach that crossroads in the next five years, possibly triggering an unpredictable chain-reaction of legal wrangling that could lead to some water users being cut off from the river.
The Santa Fe Irrigation District Board of Directors approved a scheduled 3% rate adjustment at its November meeting, according to a news release. The increase will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
The scheduled rate adjustment was a part of the board’s three-year rate structure approved in January 2020. Last November, the board voted to freeze any rate increases for 2021 and use reserves to absorb the 4.8% San Diego County Water Authority increases, citing fiscal management and impacts of the pandemic on the region and customers.
The Water News Network was honored with awards from several organizations recently, including the Public Relations Society of America.
On November 18, the WNN received a Bronze Bernays Award of Merit in the websites category from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) San Diego/Imperial County chapter. It is the second consecutive year the WNN website has received this award.
The Bronze Bernays Merit award in Websites goes to San Diego County Water Authority for the "Water News Network." @sdcwa #BolderBrighterBetter #Bernays2021 pic.twitter.com/SCw3lqWfdD
— PRSA SanDiego/IC (@PRSAsandiego) November 18, 2021
Now in its fourth year of operation, the WNN is recognized as a reliable source of factual information upholding the standards of journalism to provide news about the water and wastewater industry to the San Diego region and the Southwest United States.
In October, the WNN website was awarded first place as the Best Public Service or Consumer Advocacy Website by the San Diego Press Club. It is the fourth consecutive year the WNN has received this honor.
Water News Network staff also received three awards from the San Diego Press Club in 2021:
The Water News Network was given an EPIC Award in 2020 as the Best California Public Agency Website by CAPIO (California Public Information Officers Organization). CAPIO EPIC Awards recognize the “best of the best” in government communications throughout the state.
The Water News Network specializes in covering water and wastewater industry stories in the San Diego County region, focusing on the people and projects that ensure a safe, reliable and plentiful water supply flows to the region’s 3.3 million residents and its $253 billion economy.
(Editor’s note: News about the water and wastewater industry published in the Water News Network would not be possible without the contributions from the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies, that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
California is likely to emerge from the winter with little relief from drought, federal climate experts said Thursday, setting the stage for a third year of dry weather and continuing water shortages. The monthly climate report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that drought conditions will persist in almost all of California through February. With the next three months historically the state’s wettest, the opportunity for drought recovery is essentially lost.
Despite recent rain, California is still in the depths of a drought. Conditions have improved, but barely. Most of the state is still in exceptional or extreme drought. In the South Bay, a million residents will soon be hit with the toughest water restrictions of any major urban area in California. Late Wednesday, the state PUC gave final approval to San Jose Water Company’s plan. Approval by state regulators means the call to cut water use is no longer voluntary for South Bay residents.
At the top of Donner Summit, an old cabin rests in a thicket of tall trees. The structure is three stories tall, including the basement. Still, in the heaviest of winters, the snow drifts are deep enough to bury the front door, so the only way into the building is through a window on the top floor.
