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P4 Repair-Bonsall-pipeline-Asset Management

Proactive Pipeline Repair Maintains Water Supply Reliability, Affordability

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The San Diego County Water Authority is proactively fixing a 90-inch diameter pipeline in Bonsall. The work is part of the agency’s long-term commitment to maintaining regional investments in water supply reliability and affordability.

Water Authority staff detected potential pipeline weaknesses just north of West Lilac Road in late January using real-time acoustic fiber-optic monitoring. This technology locates distressed sections of pipelines even while they are in use as part of the Water Authority’s high-tech asset management program.

Further investigation prompted the Water Authority to prioritize repairs on a 48-foot-long section of pipeline. Water Authority staff are carefully monitoring the pipe section around the clock while preparing designs and identifying contractors that can quickly mobilize for repairs.

Water supply affordability

Plans are to shut down and drain that stretch of pipe starting March 1. Work to replace the pipeline segments will continue until the line is back in service approximately 10 days later.

“This repair highlights the value of strategic investments in money-saving asset management tools and training,” said Martin Coghill, a senior manager for operations and maintenance at the Water Authority. “By proactively identifying this problem spot, we prevented what could have been a major unplanned shutdown.”

Pipeline 4-Bonsall-Asset Management-pipelines

The San Diego County Water Authority is proactively fixing a 90-inch diameter pipeline in Bonsall as part of the agency’s long-term commitment to maintaining regional investments in water supply reliability and affordability. Graphic: San Diego County Water Authority

Coordination, collaboration with member agencies

The Water Authority has been coordinating closely with retail water agencies in North County that rely on deliveries from Pipeline 4. Rainbow Municipal Water District, Fallbrook Public Utility District, City of Oceanside, Valley Center Municipal Water District, and Vallecitos Water District are preparing to continue water deliveries by other means to homes and businesses while Pipeline 4 is out of service.

Fortunately, while Pipeline 4 is shut down the Water Authority’s resilient system can deliver treated water to retail agency connections from multiple sources, including the Carlsbad Desalination Plant.

P4 Repair-desalination-asset management-Bonsall

Fortunately, while Pipeline 4 is shut down the Water Authority’s resilient system can deliver treated water to retail agency connections from multiple sources, including the Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

Water Authority infrastructure repairs are funded by water ratepayers countywide. Regional investments in supply reliability ensure consistent and timely monitoring, maintenance, and repairs of the complex countywide water delivery system. Those investments, in turn, support San Diego’s regional economy and quality of life.

The Water Authority operates and maintains a water delivery system capable of delivering more than 900 million gallons of water per day through 310 miles of large-diameter pipeline, 1,600 aqueduct-related structures, and approximately 100 metering/flow control facilities. It also includes a state-of-the-art water treatment plant, hydroelectric facilities, pump stations, flow regulatory structures, and reservoirs that store water for emergencies and dry years.

Proactive asset management saves ratepayers money

As assets age, the Water Authority proactively replaces and repairs them to minimize impacts to member agencies and the public. Investments in the latest inspection technologies, including electromagnetic scanning, robotic inspections and 3D tunnel inspections help the Water Authority’s asset management team detect defects in pipelines and related facilities. By identifying corrosion or other types of deficiencies early, potential problems are corrected so they don’t become large and more costly issues.

Approximately 82 miles of the Water Authority’s pipelines are pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes, also known as PCCP, that are made from a combination of steel and concrete. However, numerous catastrophic failures have occurred with these pipes worldwide in recent decades. In response, the Water Authority instituted a proactive program in 1991 to reinforce the pipelines with steel liners. To date, the Water Authority has relined 47 miles of PCCP.

(Editor’s note: The Rainbow Municipal Water District, Fallbrook Public Utility District, City of Oceanside, Valley Center Municipal Water District, and Vallecitos Water District are five of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)

Satellite Images Show Just How Quickly Sierra’s Snowpack Is Retreating

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Gwendolyn Wu

The storms that frosted the Sierra Nevada with a healthy layer of snow in December soon gave way to dry weather, and the snowpack is showing it.

Satellite images from NASA show a big difference even between January and February. Images from Jan. 9 showed a blanket of snow over the Sierra Nevada and their foothills, with clouds overshadowing parts of the Bay Area and Central Valley.

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California Agriculture Takes $1.2-Billion Hit During Drought, Losing 8,700 Farm Jobs, Researchers Find

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Severe drought last year caused the California agriculture industry to shrink by an estimated 8,745 jobs and shoulder $1.2 billion in direct costs as water cutbacks forced growers to fallow farmland and pump more groundwater from wells, according to new research.

In a report prepared for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, researchers calculated that reduced water deliveries resulted in 395,000 acres of cropland left dry and unplanted — an area larger than Los Angeles. In estimating the costs, they factored in losses in crop revenue and higher costs for pumping more groundwater.

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Explainer: UN ‘House on Fire’ Climate Report Key to Action

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Seth Borenstein and Frank Jordans

A new science report from the United Nations spells out in excruciating detail the pain of climate change to people and the planet with the idea — the hope really — that if leaders pay attention, some of the worst can be avoided or lessened.

One scientist calls it the “Your House is On Fire” report.

While these reports often can come across as depressing, to scientists and world leaders, the idea isn’t to lower people’s spirits.

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Agencies Working to Sustain Groundwater

/in , , , /by /AgAlertby Christine Souza

A new era of groundwater management in California continues to take shape as local agencies develop and implement plans that identify how they intend to achieve groundwater sustainability goals over the next 20 years.

“The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, if you haven’t heard about it, it’s knocking on your door and will soon be pretty much a part of your life if you’re trying to farm,” said Cordie Qualle, professional engineer and faculty fellow at California State University, Fresno.

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Arizona Governor Outlines Plan to Boost Water Supplies

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Bob Christie

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and a top leader in the state Legislature on Friday filled in a key part of a developing plan to boost the desert state’s increasingly strained water supply.

They plan to create a state agency to acquire new supplies and develop and fund projects, with deep pockets and the authority to go out and find sources that can secure the state’s water future. One potential project is a multibillion-dollar desalination plant in Mexico, but many others are also being eyed along with efforts to conserve existing supplies.

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Undamming the Klamath May Be a Reality This Year

/in , /by /Times Standardby Sonia Waraich

Twenty years ago, undamming the Klamath River seemed like an impossibility. Against all odds, the project is entering its home stretch and dam removal may begin as early as this year.

On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a draft environmental impact statement detailing how removing four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River would have permanent and significant benefits for the environment and the public. One of the biggest benefits would be the restoration of water quality and temperatures, which are essential for the survival of fish species in the river that local tribes and fishermen rely upon.

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Hotter Summers, Bigger Fires, Less Water: How Arizona Is Adapting to New Climate Norms

/in , , /by /AZ Centralby Brandon Loomis

Climate scientists working on the latest international assessment of rising threats to society say it’s imperative that communities adapt now.

Their warning touches on several fields that Arizona and its neighbors in the Southwest are now attempting to tackle, from drought mitigation and wildfire management to the dangers of urban heat.

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North County Water Delivery System Repairs Start March 1 in Bonsall

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The San Diego County Water Authority is proactively fixing a 90-inch diameter pipeline in Bonsall as part of the agency’s long-term commitment to maintaining regional investments in water supply reliability and affordability.

Water Authority staff detected potential pipeline weaknesses just north of West Lilac Road in late January using real-time acoustic fiber-optic monitoring. This technology locates distressed sections of pipelines even while they are in use as part of the Water Authority’s high-tech asset management program.

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With Delta Smelt Virtually Gone in the Wild, A “Hatch-and-Release” Program Aims to Save Them From Extinction

/in , /by /Western Water / Water Education Foundationby Alastair Bland

In the vast labyrinth of the West Coast’s largest freshwater tidal estuary, one native fish species has never been so rare. Once uncountably numerous, the Delta smelt since 2016 has largely vanished from most annual sampling surveys. But in December, state and federal biologists began for the first time ever releasing captively bred adult Delta smelt into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as part of a three-year effort to draw the species away from the brink of extinction.

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