Westlands Water District, the biggest agricultural water district in the state, could lose 200,000 acre feet of water – or more – for lack of demand, according to an update at its June board meeting. The revelation was made during a briefing by Chief Operating Officer Jose Guiterrez who acknowledged Westlands could have more than 320,000 acre feet of water left over when its contract year is up next Feb. 28.
Local leaders are finally losing patience with the federal government’s anemic response to San Diego’s environmental nightmare. Now it’s the governor’s turn. For decades, an appalling aspect of life in the San Diego region has been the constant specter of untreated sewage from broken infrastructure in Tijuana flowing into the Pacific and fouling beaches, marshes and coastal areas on the U.S. side of the border from San Ysidro to Coronado.
People in Chico are seeing higher water bills this summer. It’s a combination of higher water and sewer rates. Starting in July the current combined bill must be paid separately. Cal Water implemented a four percent interim rate increase on May 5. Chico Cal Water District Manager Evan Markey said the final rate increase has been delayed by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
A stretch of unusually wet months has erased drought across much of the Southwest. A briefing by climate experts spelled out how a snowy winter and rainy spring brought relief to a particularly parched region.
“Unlike some past presentations I’ve given for the Southwest,” said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, “This one actually has some good news in it.”
Escondido homeowners Marcus and Leanne F. decided it was time for a landscape makeover two years ago when their effort to keep their lawn green required a lot of water. But they didn’t know where to start, lacking experience with landscape design and working with a limited budget.
The couple started from the beginning, and the result was a waterwise landscape selected as the City of Escondido’s 2023 Landscape Makeover Contest winner.
Long Beach water customers will likely see their bills increase this year.
This comes after the Utilities Commission approved a 9% increase for water usage Monday.
The increase would add just over $5 to the average single-family household’s bill starting Oct. 1.
A public hearing on the rates is tentatively scheduled for August.
It’s gone by several names: Peripheral Canal, Water Fix and Delta Conveyance.
Its design has changed several times, from a canal to twin tunnels and most recently a single tunnel.
However, its purpose has been unchanged for seven decades – bypassing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as water is moved from Northern California to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California homes.
San Diego County supervisors unanimously approved a proclamation Tuesday declaring a state of emergency due to pollution and sewage flowing across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Board Chairwoman Nora Vargas and Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer introduced the proclamation, which asks Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden to issue similar declarations, “suspend red tape that may hinder response efforts, and expedite access to federal resources for San Diego County.”
California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed on a $310.8 billion budget deal Monday, a compromise reached by dropping the governor’s proposal to move forward with a 45-mile Delta water tunnel that would pump water from the Sacramento River to other parts of the state.
Legislators released a series of bills Saturday and Sunday showing the broad outlines of a spending plan that includes more money for public transit, child care, prison reform and Medi-Cal. The measures also reflected the challenges of closing the state’s estimated $31.5 billion budget gap.
By taking a watershed approach to his landscape redesign, homeowner Brad Lefkowits won the Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s 2023 Landscape Makeover Contest. The WaterSmart Landscape Contest is held annually by water agencies throughout San Diego County.
