Amping up their concerns as a deadline looms, key California legislators today escalated their pushback on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to streamline the Delta water tunnel and other infrastructure projects. The stalemate could become a critical lever while lawmakers haggle with Newsom over the 2023-2024 budget leading up to his June 27 deadline for approving the spending plan.
San Diego officials say they must raise water rates more than previously announced — 19.8% instead of 17.6% — but a smaller portion of the increases would fall on typical single-family homeowners.
City water officials told the City Council Tuesday that the bump up in the proposed increases is being driven primarily by costs for imported water, which makes up 85% to 90% of the city’s supply.
The Helix Water District has been awarded $10.3 million in grant funds by the California Department of Water Resources for the district’s drought resilience and drinking water supply reliability project. The district was one of 26 California agencies, and the only one in San Diego County, to receive a portion of the $217 million in grants awarded in this round of funding.
The price of water is rising across the Southwest as utilities look to cover the cost of the increasingly scarce resource, the infrastructure to treat and distribute it and the search for new supplies.
National forecasters made it official this month: El Niño is here. But we might not feel the effects of it just yet. “Historically El Niño events during the summer tend to have very weak impacts over the United States,” explained National Weather Service meteorologist Michelle L’Heureux.
Council voted unanimously to continue the 20 percent reduction in water use per the 2020 Water Shortage Contingency Plan last week despite an abnormally wet winter that pulled much of the state out of drought. The decision was part of the Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report that is due each year by July 1 to the California Department of Water Resources and also requires formal adoption by Santa Monica City Council.
As the temperatures warm up across the West, all eyes remain on the water levels at lakes Powell and Mead. Experts say there is still plenty of snowpack to add to the Colorado River as well. Even on a windy Monday, people still want to visit Lake Mead.
California Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins June 16 recognized the accomplishments of San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl, who is retiring later this month after a 41-year career in public service.
During a ceremony at the Water Authority’s Kearny Mesa headquarters, Atkins presented Kerl with a framed plaque of the resolution on behalf of the entire San Diego County delegation in the state Legislature. The resolution honors Kerl’s long career, highlighting many of her accomplishments, including her work the past 14 years at the Water Authority.
While San Diego County residents continue to embrace low-water use landscapes taking advantage of rebates to swap grass for native and drought-tolerant plants. There are also incentives for areas with larger landscapes to increase water use efficiency.
A year after Lake Mead dropped to a historic low, the U.S. government’s Department of Interior and Bureau of Reclamation have announced the beginning of the process to develop a new plan to deal with the changing water levels in reservoirs along the Colorado River. To do this it is setting up three public input meetings online where people can voice ideas and concerns.
