Water is going to get more expensive.
It’s a matter of supply and demand:
Clean, easily accessible water is dwindling across Arizona, while those who rely on it aren’t going anywhere. That means we’ll all pay more for the thing that no desert dweller can live without.
When we describe snow on San Diego County’s mountains, it’s typically with words like dusting and slushy. This time, we can safely use the word dumping.
Three to five feet of snow is possible on San Diego’s mountain tops by the time a winter storm combined with an atmospheric river is finished on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
The final shutdown for scheduled maintenance of the San Diego County Water Authority’s First Aqueduct is scheduled to begin February 27. The shutdown will run through March 8, allowing crews to reline portions of the historic aqueduct and perform regular maintenance work that ensures a safe and reliable water supply for the region. Portions of the First Aqueduct were shut down earlier this year for similar work, as part of a proactive approach to saving on future maintenance or replacement costs.
In Jeanne Reutlinger’s world, gardening is an act of collaboration with friends and neighbors — meaning you don’t need much of a budget at all to create a prize-winning front yard. In Reutlinger’s case, her garden is the 2022 WaterSmart Landscape Contest winner for the city of Escondido’s water district.
(Editor’s Note: Residents of San Diego County can schedule free WaterSmart Checkups to make their properties more water-efficient and are eligible for water-saving rebates: www.sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation/. Read more about Jeanne Reutlinger’s WaterSmart moves here: www.waternewsnetwork.com/escondido-landscape-makeover-winner-goes-from-weeds-to-wow/ The City of Escondido is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.)
The Sweetwater Reservoir now offers “Free Fishing Sundays” through the Sweetwater Authority’s Reservoir Recreation Program. Free access weekly on Sundays will continue through the end of 2023.
California farms and cities that get their water from the Central Valley Project are due to receive a large increase in water allocations this year after snowpack and reservoirs were replenished in winter storms, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Wednesday.
Most recipients of the Central Valley Projects are irrigation districts that supply farms, and some are cities, including those served by the East Bay Municipal Utility District and Contra Costa Water District in the Bay Area.
After another big storm this week we will see much of the rainwater flowing out to the ocean instead of being captured for use.
Los Angeles County officials say saving more of this water will be key for dealing with drought.
A series of storms brought wild weather to San Diego this week, including rain that could cause flooding and gusty winds that toppled trees into cars, homes and streets and led to power outages across the county.
The first of back-to-back storms reached the region Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning had already caused widespread damage. An atmospheric river was slated to reach the county by Thursday, meaning more damage was possible in the days ahead.
Only weeks after a series of atmospheric rivers deluged California, the state is once again bracing for powerful winter weather that could deliver heaps of rain and snow, including fresh powder at elevations as low as 1,500 feet.
But as worsening climate extremes and water supply challenges continue to bedevil the state, officials cautioned residents Tuesday not to assume that the recent moisture signaled an end to the drought.
Figures from the federal government show Nevada used 8% less water from the Colorado River in 2022 as conservation ramped up during one of the drought’s worst years.
Southern Nevada continues to make “tremendous progress” in water savings, according to John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
