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Hydro Station Lets Students Explore WaterSmart Landscape Design

As its fourth year begins, the Chula Vista Hydro Station offers new activities in 2022, helping Chula Vista Elementary School District students learn about using water wisely through hands-on activities.

A unique joint educational partnership between the Sweetwater Authority, the Otay Water District, and the Chula Vista Elementary School District, the Hydro Station, opened in 2019 at the Richard A. Reynolds Groundwater Desalination Facility.

Four in a Row: California Drought Likely to Continue

As California’s 2022 water year ends this week, the parched state is bracing for another dry year — its fourth in a row.

So far, in California’s recorded history, six previous droughts have lasted four or more years,  two of them in the past 35 years.

Despite some rain in September, weather watchers expect a hot and dry fall, and warn that this winter could bring warm temperatures and below-average precipitation.

Save Money and Water With These Quick Tips

Consumer Reports and NBC 7 Responds’ Claudia Simones look at ways to help you save money and help during drought conditions.

Tiny Oregon Town Hosts 1st Wind-Solar-Battery ‘Hybrid’ Plant

A renewable energy plant being commissioned in Oregon on Wednesday that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there is the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America.

The project, which will generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly turns to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced to fill in gaps when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining with fossil fuels like coal or natural gas.

Water is Expensive in California. A New Bill Could Change That

Last month, California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot warned Bay Area residents to brace for a fourth dry year in a row. As the state’s drought continues to compromise the drinking water supply of millions of people across the state, for some Californians, scarcity isn’t the only reason they can’t access water.

For California’s low-income communities, the cost of potable water is increasingly out of reach.

Shasta Lake Level Causing Far-Reaching Ripple Effects

California’s largest reservoir, Shasta Lake, is located 175 miles north of Sacramento. But what happens there impacts farming throughout the entire Central Valley.

Shasta Lake is capable of holding 4,552,100 acre-feet of water, which is almost five times the capacity of Folsom Lake. When full, Shasta boasts 365 miles of scenic shoreline. But for those visiting the lake in recent months, it is impossible to ignore how that shoreline is shrinking. The water is about 150 feet below the ideal surface level.

“We’re coming out of the three driest years on record,” explained Don Bader, area manager for the Bureau of Reclamation. “So that’s a huge hit to our storage, as you can see.”

Opinion: Speaker: Government Control Creeping Ever Further Into Water Rights

In a fast-paced trip through the evolution of California’s water rights, attorney Valerie Kincaid explained how the system has gone from the “wild, wild west” to one pervaded by ever greater government creep.

By expanding its authorities under what had been thought of as several limited court decisions, state government is now essentially dictating operations on several watersheds, has ignored priority rights and is on the verge of amassing even more control under the guise of “modernization,” Kincaid told a packed room during a Water Association of Kern County luncheon on Tuesday the Water Board.

World’s Lakes are Turning Green-Brown With Climate Change

A new study from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) finds that, if global warming persists, blue lakes worldwide are at risk of turning green-brown.

Shifts in lake water color can indicate a loss of ecosystem health. The study presents the first global inventory of lake color.

While substances such as algae and sediments can affect the color of lakes, the new study finds air temperature, precipitation, lake depth, and elevation also play important roles in determining a lake’s most common water color.

The Supreme Court Case That’s Likely to Handcuff the Clean Water Act

For decades, the Supreme Court struggled to define a key term at the heart of the Clean Water Act, the landmark 1972 legislation that forms the backbone of America’s efforts to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”

It’s an admittedly difficult question, that is now in the hands of the most conservative Supreme Court since the 1930s. And the Court’s Republican-appointed supermajority seems poised to deal a severe blow to the clean water law, in a case that could do significant harm to America’s efforts to prevent floods and to ensure that everyone in the country has access to safe drinking water.

Faces of the Water Industry-Work For Water-jobs-water industry

Faces of the Water Industry: Work for Water

Water and wastewater professionals across San Diego County are highlighted in October during the San Diego County Water Authority’s “Faces of the Water Industry” campaign. Each year, the Water Authority collaborates with its member agencies to showcase regional water industry employees and career opportunities through a series of social media posts and videos.

Since 2017, the Water Authority’s annual campaigns have highlighted nearly 200 employees in San Diego County across multiple water agencies and job types. The 2022 campaign started October 1, coinciding with California’s Water Professionals Appreciation Week (October 1-9). 

Faces of the Water Industry

Nina Tarantino, Human Resources Specialist, Padre Dam Municipal Water District

Adrian Alarid, Plant Systems Technician at the City of Escondido

What advice would you give someone interested in a career in the water industry?  

“Get in now! This industry provides a lifelong career path. There are so many different jobs and certifications to learn about and explore. All education and skill sets can find a great job in water.” 

Adrian Alarid is a Plant Systems Technician at the City of Escondido

Jenny Diaz, Confidential Executive Assistant at Otay Water District 

Who inspired you to work in the water industry?

“One of my undergraduate professors advised that if I wanted an excellent job for the rest of my life, to consider a career in public utilities because those services will always be in demand. I seized the opportunity as soon as I saw it!”

Jenny Diaz is a Confidential Executive Assistant at Otay Water District

Leo Mendez, Accounting Supervisor at Olivenhain Municipal Water District

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?

“I enjoy leading a team of bright people and working across different departments to ensure Olivenhain Municipal Water District maintains its strong financial position. The finance and accounting work is challenging, but it keeps my job interesting. It is rewarding to know that my work supports a public agency in providing water, an essential service, to our community in a sustainable and fiscally responsible manner.”

Leo Mendez is an Accounting Supervisor at Olivenhain Municipal Water District

The 2022 Faces of the Water Industry campaign features stories from 18 San Diego County water industry professionals in a series of social media posts and videos. Follow the Water Authority on Instagram (@sdcwa) to read more inspiring stories from the region’s water and wastewater pros – the Faces of the Water Industry.

California Virtual Water Career Fairs

The water and wastewater industry offers vast opportunities in engineering, operations, finance, public affairs, human resources, administration and information technology. New and current water professionals can learn more about the industry in an upcoming series of free virtual career fairs hosted by various agencies in October

For more job openings, internships and education opportunities across the San Diego region’s water and wastewater industry, go to sandiegowaterworks.org.

(Editor’s note: The Padre Dam Municipal Water District, City of Escondido, Otay Water District, and Olivenhain Municipal Water District are four of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)