The California Energy Commission has issued a $31 million grant to build a 60 MWh long-duration energy storage system that is expected to provide backup power to the Viejas Tribe of Kumeyaay Indians and bolster the reliability of the energy system statewide.
Due to the persistence of California’s unprecedented megadrought, capturing rainfall when it occurs is a conservation priority. Several water districts in North San Diego County are offering discounted rain barrels.
The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served more than 100 billion gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water over the past seven years – a milestone passed in late October, as California entered a fourth consecutive year of severe drought.
The plant produces an average of more than 50 million gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water every day. It’s a foundational water supply for the San Diego region that minimizes vulnerability to drought and other water supply emergencies. The facility is the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient desalination plant in the nation, and it has provided a sustainable water supply to residents and businesses in San Diego County since December 2015.
“As we mark this achievement, water from the seawater desalination plant continues to reduce our dependence on imported water sources, which has the effect of making more water available for drought-stricken communities elsewhere,” said Mel Katz, Board chair for the San Diego County Water Authority. “Since coming online in 2015, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant has met nearly 10% of the region’s water demand, and it will be a core water resource for decades to come.”
The San Diego County Water Authority added desalinated seawater to its supply portfolio in 2015 with the start of commercial operations at the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
“Reaching 100 billion gallons demonstrates the value, effectiveness, and reliability of the desalination plant, as it produces high-quality water to help meet the needs of the region’s residents and businesses,” said Channelside President, Sachin Chawla.
The desalination plant is a key piece of the region’s multi-decade strategy to diversify its water supply portfolio. A 30-year Water Purchase Agreement between Poseidon (Channelside) LP and the Water Authority allows for the production of up to 56,000 acre-feet of water per year, enough to meet the needs of approximately 400,000 people.
Reverse osmosis is the heart of the Carlsbad Desalination Plant. During this process, dissolved salt and other minerals are separated from the water, making it fit for consumption. This reverse osmosis building contains more than 2,000 pressure vessels housing more than 16,000 reverse osmosis membranes. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Desalination uses reverse osmosis technology to remove water molecules from seawater. Water from the ocean is forced through tightly-wrapped, semipermeable membranes under very high pressure. The membranes allow the smaller water molecules to pass through, leaving salt and other impurities to be discharged from the facility.
More information about the desalination plant is at carlsbaddesal.com and sdcwa.org.
The cost of water has over last two decades risen dramatically across San Diego County as a result of investments in desalination, ongoing maintenance, ever-increasing energy prices and unprecedented conservation.
As California enters a fourth straight year of drought, more residents are taking advantage of free, online webinars helping them create a beautiful, water-efficient outdoor landscape. New three-hour workshops are now scheduled through December, funded in part by the County of San Diego Watershed Protection Program.
Taught by local landscape professionals, upcoming webinars focus on specific landscape topics with a “do-it-yourself” approach. From plant choices and irrigation to design and maintenance, the webinars offer timely help on upgrading landscapes with low water use plants and other design touches.
“The workshops give people the skills and knowledge to create an outdoor space that is sustainable and water-efficient,” said Joni German, a water resources specialist for the San Diego County Water Authority. “Residents can also take advantage of other free WaterSmart resources, including rebates for replacing grass and other outdoor and indoor incentives.”
Registration is required for the online workshops. Weekday workshops are held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday workshops from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. Register here.
Outdoor watering accounts for more than half of a typical household’s water use in California. The online classes can help residents create a drought-tolerant, water-efficient landscape with a design that maximizes enjoyment of the outdoor space.
Homeowners and businesses in San Diego County can receive between $2 and $4 per square foot to remove turf and replace it with low water-use plants suited to the hot and dry conditions that are common in our region. All customers are eligible for the base rebate of $2 per square foot; some agencies offer additional funding, including the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego.
Help conserve water by transforming your outdoor spaces into a WaterSmart Landscape. @sdcwa offers free do-it-yourself workshops taught local landscape design professionals. You can now watch recordings of past workshops too! https://t.co/4U0zuAc7gO pic.twitter.com/jrnELsKNsk
— San Diego County Sustainability (@SDCoSustainable) October 16, 2022
Rebates, classes and incentives available to all residents and businesses in San Diego County. Residents in unincorporated San Diego County, may be eligible for additional incentives through the Waterscape Rebate Program.
While San Diego County’s investments in supply reliability continue to protect the region, national weather models suggest drought will continue to strain water resources across the West and make water conservation a priority in 2023. Additional free, online WaterSmart landscape workshops are planned for 2023.
(Editor’s Note: The San Diego County Water Authority sustains a $240 billion regional economy and the quality of life for 3.3 million residents through a multi-decade water supply diversification plan, major infrastructure investments and forward-thinking policies that promote fiscal and environmental responsibility. A public agency created in 1944, the Water Authority delivers wholesale water supplies to 24 retail water providers, including cities, special districts and a military base.)
Amid a record-breaking drought and calls to drastically reduce water use across California, Los Angeles residents saved a staggering 6 billion gallons during the hottest months of the summer, officials announced Monday. From June through September, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers used 6 billion gallons of water less than during the same period last year.
The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography runs a weather prediction system called ‘West-WRF’ that has been optimized for predicting rainfall along the West Coast primarily from atmospheric rivers (AR). Forecast data from West-WRF is used by water managers to improve reservoir operations and to inform CW3E AR reconnaissance activities.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced more than $609 million in capitalization grants, through State Revolving Funds (SRFs), to California for water infrastructure improvements. The grants will supplement the state’s annual base SRF of $144 million. The capitalization grants mark the first significant distribution of water infrastructure investments to California following passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The law allocates more than $50 billion toward water infrastructure.
California’s water officials plan to impose a $4,000 fine on Siskiyou County ranchers for violating orders to cut back their water use during a weeklong standoff last summer. State officials and the ranchers agree: A $4,000 fine isn’t much of a deterrent to prevent illegal water diversions during California’s droughts. The proposed fine would amount to about $50 per rancher.
Even as worsening drought and aridification force Los Angeles to end its overwhelming dependence on imported water, Angelenos may soon realize that weaning themselves off supplies from the rugged eastern Sierra Nevada doesn’t mean they will stop paying for the city’s long, complicated history there. That’s because, even if the city is able to make good on a pledge by Mayor Eric Garcetti to recycle 100% of its water by 2035 and increase its ability to capture storm water, Los Angeles will still have to pay millions of dollars to control the region’s hazardous dust pollution — an environmental consequence of L.A.’s draining of Owens Lake more than a century ago, as well as recent diversions that have lowered the level of Mono Lake farther north.
