These are desperate days for the Colorado River.
The pulsing lifeblood of the U.S. southwest is increasingly parched. To avert catastrophe, the U.S. government will, within weeks, propose historic cuts in water access. It’s a frantic move to protect a river that provides so much: drinking water for tens of millions of people, electricity and food. Lots of food.
There’s a water contradiction in the West with serious long-term water scarcity in low reservoirs and depleting groundwater tables, while California is in the middle of an extremely wet and snowy winter. As water levels in dangerously depleted Lake Mead and Lake Powell drop to record lows, California has experienced one of the wettest winters on record, with a statewide snowpack that’s almost 200 percent of normal for this time of year and a flooding risks from rain and snow events in March.
Welp, here we go again. After a long period (a full season, really) of different kinds of exceptional weather conditions all around California, there’s yet one more big storm to come in the immediate future (discussed below). But what has transpired in the past, oh, 48 hours or so?
The storm system generated by yet another atmospheric river will dump more rain on Southern California this week beginning Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
One to 3 inches of rainfall is forecast for coastal areas and valleys, while mountain and foothill communities may see 3 to 6 inches of rain by the time the storm passes on Wednesday.
The San Diego County Water Authority will host water leaders from throughout Southern California March 15 for the monthly meeting of the Colorado River Board of California. On March 14, before the formal meeting, CRB board members will tour projects in the region that promote water resiliency.
The CRB will consider the complex water supply issues facing the Southwest U.S. during its meeting. San Diego Congressman Scott Peters is also scheduled to address the CRB.
The tour is part of a new program implemented by CRB, under the leadership of Chair JB Hamby, Imperial Irrigation District’s representative, and Vice Chair Jim Madaffer, the Water Authority’s representative and Water Authority board member, to build greater awareness of each CRB member agency’s efforts to serve their region and manage their river supplies.
“The Colorado River Board is so important to ensuring California’s voice is heard on the river, especially during these difficult times as we work to find collaborative solutions to the river’s challenges now and into the future,” Madaffer said. “We look forward to showcasing the local supply projects, online now and planned, that create water resiliency locally, but that also reduce the demand on the river.”
The @sdcwa hosted #CRBTour highlighted two water supply projects: the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant and the East County Advanced Water Purification Plant (scheduled to be online in 2026.) https://t.co/tq7LCx0hKB #cawater #collaboration pic.twitter.com/ljYfQ0rYfb
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) March 14, 2023
Established in 1937, the CRB is a state agency tasked with protecting the interests and rights of the state and its agencies in water and power resources from the Colorado River.
The Water Authority is a member of the CRB along with IID, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Coachella Valley Water District, the Palo Verde Irrigation District, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the California Department of Water Resources, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CRB representatives, including two additional members from the public, are appointed by the Governor.
The facility tour and meeting is a new CRB program under the leadership of Chair JB Hamby, Imperial Irrigation District’s representative, and Vice Chair Jim Madaffer (L), the Water Authority’s representative and Water Authority board member. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
The CRB represents California in discussions and negotiations with the Basin states, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, governmental agencies at all levels, tribes, and Mexico regarding the management of the river.
CRB members on the tour will see two local water supply projects generating water now – the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant – and planned – the East County Advanced Water Purification Plant.
The seawater desalination plant, the largest in the nation, came online in 2015 and recently passed the milestone of producing more than one-billion gallons of water for the San Diego region.
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
“The desalination plant is not only important to our region, but the Water Authority believes the plant could be part of an overall long-term solution to support Lake Mead, California’s critical river reservoir, under a proposal we are considering to expand the plant,” said Madaffer.
Now under construction, the East County Advanced Water Purification facility, or East County AWP, is a collaborative partnership between two Water Authority member agencies, the Padre Dam Municipal Water District and the Helix Water District, and the County of San Diego and City of El Cajon.
The plant is projected to generate a local, reliable and drought-proof drinking water supply utilizing state-of-the-art technology to recycle and reuse the region’s wastewater. The East County AWP is expected to produce 30% of East San Diego County’s water supply by early 2026, and is one of the innovative water purification facilities in the county either in operation or in development.
Scheduled to be operating in 2026, the East County AWP is projected to generate up to 11.5 million gallons per day of purified water— meeting approximately 30% of current drinking water demands for East San Diego County residents and businesses. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Following the facility tours on March 14, the CRB will hold its monthly meeting March 15 at the Water Authority’s Kearny Mesa headquarters in San Diego. The meeting is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and is open to the public.
The @sdcwa is pleased to welcome water leaders from Southern California today for the monthly meeting of the Colorado River Board of California.
(Photo L-to-R: @bartfisher president, Palo Verde Irrigation District, @RepScottPeters and CRB Vice Chair @JimMadaffer) #CRBMeeting pic.twitter.com/u6yW1mNySt
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) March 15, 2023
(Editor’s note: The Helix Water District and Padre Dam Municipal Water District, are two of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.)
More than 9,000 California residents were under evacuation orders Friday as a new atmospheric river brought heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds, swelling rivers and creeks and flooding several major highways and small rural communities.
In Santa Cruz County, a creek bloated by rain destroyed a portion of Main Street in Soquel, a town of 10,000 people, isolating several neighborhoods. Crews were working to remove trees and other debris and find a way for people to cross the creek, county officials said.
When the nation’s largest desalination plant opened in Carlsbad, California, in 2015, people across the country were watching to see how it increased water supplies as groundwater dwindled, reservoirs dried up, and drought ravaged the Golden State.
Nearly 10 years later, the plant has demonstrated how seawater desalination can play a pivotal role in achieving water security.
March 10, 2023 – The San Diego County Water Authority on Thursday started a months-long public process to refine its next two-year budget and a draft preliminary proposed rate increase for 2024. The average rates charged by the Water Authority are currently projected to rise by approximately 14% next year, though agency staff and board members are assessing strategies to lower the number.
With recent storm systems that swept through the west, California has seen more precipitation this year than normal, bringing the water supply stored in reservoirs — both locally and across the state — up from historic lows to levels that are some of the highest in years.
And with drought conditions having improved in much of California, experts say that the amount of water captured from this year’s particularly wet winter could help ease the impact of hotter, drier weather in San Diego, as the state recovers its depleted water supplies.
Two winters’ worth of snow has already fallen in the Sierra Nevada since Christmas, pulling California from the depths of extreme drought into one of its wettest winters in memory.
But as a series of tropical storms slams the state, that bounty has become a flood risk as warm rains fall on the state’s record snowpack, causing rapid melting and jeopardizing Central Valley towns still soggy from January’s deluges.
