Washington’s Yakima River basin has been thirsty for rain, but it’s finally getting a drink.
Drought conditions have not let up in the region for three years. But in the first full week of last December, its mountain reservoirs racked up a combined 36 inches of rain.
Poway residents will be paying more for water after the City Council’s Jan. 20 approval of a 9.9% rate increase this year, with another 4% hike each year for the next four years. Additionally, the cost of recycled water is increasing by 23% this year and wastewater costs are scheduled to rise by 3% each year from 2028 through 2030, according to a staff report.
The 2026 rate increases started with the Jan. 21 water bills, said the city’s Director of Finance Craig Schmollinger. The average customer is expected to pay $24.22 per month more, or $48.43 more per bimonthly billing period for water.
Water use in California was lower than officials estimated it would be between 2000 and 2020, according to a new report.
The findings raise questions about the accuracy of long-term water-demand projections, which could have knock-on effects on costs borne by consumers, but overall the news that water demand is lower than projected is positive for the state and its regular battles against drought, experts told Live Science.
Los Angeles and Ventura county officials Wednesday broke ground on a $280 million pump station project designed to ensure water is available in Southland communities that were hard hit during recent California droughts.
The Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations Project will allow the region’s water wholesaler — the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — to divert water from the Colorado River and Diamond Valley Lake to communities that normally rely on State Water Project supplies. The project will ensure that when water supplies are limited, SWP-reliant communities will have access to water from other sources.
The Olivenhain Municipal Water District board of directors is considering seeking state permission to stop putting fluoride into its water supply.
Board members will discuss the proposal at their regular monthly meeting, which is set for 4 p.m. today at the district’s offices at 1966 Olivenhain Road. OMWD covers a 48-square-mile area and serves about 87,000 customers in Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Diego, Solana Beach and neighboring communities, the district’s website said. The district has been adding fluoride into its water supply since 2013, a staff report produced for the meeting said. Like other fluoridation efforts around the nation, OMWD’s Community Water Fluoridation program has been controversial.
Southern California’s largest reservoir, Diamond Valley Lake, is nearly full due in large part to two powerful sets of storms that drenched the region over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
It’s at 94% capacity. Many of the reservoirs in Los Angeles County, just as critical, are also in good shape. It’s been a long time since the region has seen this much rain this early in the season.
After years of unpredictable water resources, California officials are taking steps to make sure precious rainwater doesn’t just wash away when storms hit.
State leaders announced this week that California is expanding efforts to capture and store stormwater during the wet season. According to the governor’s office, per KRCR, agencies across the state are working together to collect runoff, direct it into reservoirs, and recharge groundwater for use during drier months.
More than two-thirds of the country is facing unusual dryness or full-blown drought conditions, despite winter being known for heavier precipitation, according to a Washington Post analysis of recent U.S. Drought Monitor data.
The conditions touch every state except for the usually drought-prone California, which has had a wet winter.
The Department of Water and Power is developing plans for Pure Water Los Angeles (“PWLA”) a facility that will convert wastewater to drinking water. This project will be located at Hyperion, just south of LAX, and will produce an estimated 200,000-acre feet of potable water a year, an amount equal to more than 40% of the City’s annual consumption.
This project is designed to increase the supply of water from local sources (10-15%), reducing our dependence on non-local sources (85-90%). Today, the City relies on water delivered by the Metropolitan Water District (“MWD”) through the California Aqueduct from Northern California and the Colorado River Aqueduct. We also receive water via the Los Angeles Aqueduct from sources in the Eastern Sierras and Owens Valley that are controlled by DWP, although this source has been constrained because of environmental issues.
What kind of yard does a wildlife biologist create for herself and her family? For Shea O’Keefe, the 2025 WaterSmart Landscape Contest winner for San Dieguito Water District, it’s a yard that has a thoughtful connection to nature.
O’Keefe, a wildlife biologist who does restoration on working lands (think farmland, rangeland and forest land whose owners want to do something for wildlife) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has gradually created her own miniature version of a wildlife preserve in the suburbs of Encinitas.
