For more than a decade Imperial Beach has been contaminated with bacteria flowing in from Mexico.
“I don’t feel safe letting my kids go into the water because it’s all polluted, and it’s sad,” said Carla Diaz, a former Imperial Beach resident.
As Shawntrel McCoy closes out his 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he’ll be spending his last six months pursuing his passion for environmental science in the SkillBridge Program at the San Diego County Water Authority. The program is helping military veterans transition to career-track training opportunities, including work in the water and wastewater industry.
California has awarded the wholesaler San Diego County Water Authority $3 million to help financially strapped households install high-efficiency toilets and upgrade irrigation systems, state officials announced last week.
The money comes from the Department of Water Resources as part of $46 million in grants doled out across six counties in the state. Projects include recycling efforts, flood risk and groundwater management, pipeline construction and turf rebates.
The ongoing dispute over Colorado River water comes down largely to math: How much water should each state and region lose as reservoir levels continue to decline?
California has one interpretation of how to divvy up the cuts, and six other states that depend on the river have a different formula.
The Arctic is seeing a rapid decline in sea ice even during the cold winter months when it should be recovering from the summer melt. Scientists say that one often-overlooked factor is playing a bigger role than previously thought: Atmospheric rivers.
These long, narrow bands of moisture in the atmosphere transport warm air and water vapor from the tropics. They can extend for thousands of miles and dump rain and snow when they make landfall.
The Consulate of Mexico in Calexico hosted a presentation Thursday, February 2 announcing a collaborative effort with the Imperial Irrigation District to raise awareness about the risk of the All-American Canal involving undocumented and illegal border crossings.
IID General Manager Henry Martinez opened by welcoming all in attendance and introducing dignitaries.
The powerful storms that clobbered California for weeks in December and January dropped trillions of gallons of water, flooding many communities and farms. But throughout the state, the rains have done little to nourish the underground supplies that are critical sources of California’s drinking water.
Thousands of people in the San Joaquin Valley have seen their wells go dry after years of prolonged drought and overpumping of aquifers. And a two-week deluge — or even a wet winter — will not bring them relief.
Call it water whiplash: As California recovers from one of its wettest months in recent history, the Colorado River is still dwindling toward dangerous lows.
As a result, Southern Californians aren’t sure whether to expect shortage or surplus in the year ahead. Though the state is snow-capped and soggy from a series of atmospheric river storms, the region remains under a drought emergency declaration from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The decades-old agreements that outline water rights to the Colorado River Basin are leading to an impasse on an issue affecting millions of people in the American Southwest.
On Jan. 31, the seven states that draw water from the basin had to come up with a plan to voluntarily cut back on using water from the basin. Six states — Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — agreed on one proposal. But California, which is the state the uses the most water, rejected that plan and submitted its own.
The San Diego County Water Authority was awarded $3.3 million Thursday by the state’s Department of Water Resources for installation of high-efficiency toilets and smart irrigation controllers.
The funding is part of $46 million in grants the department awarded nine projects in six counties. The Urban Community Drought Relief Grant program is intended to “address drought impacts in California’s communities while furthering water conservation,” a statement from the agency reads.
According to the state, the San Diego County projects are expected to provide 1,323 acre-feet in water savings per year and transform up to 333,420 acres to more water-efficient landscapes.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
