San Diego County Water Authority Water Resources Manager Jeff Stephenson talks to ABC 10News about the area’s water supply following the release of the draft 2020 Urban Water Management Plan. The plan was released for public review March 8.
Every time someone turns on the tap in San Diego County, out flows the work of Peter MacLaggan.
MacLaggan was the point man in the construction of the Carlsbad desalination plant, a nearly $1 billion public-private partnership that since 2015 has supplied nearly 10 percent of the potable water consumed in the county.
Desalination relies on the virtually unlimited supply of water in the Pacific Ocean. It provides a safe, reliable source of local water in a region that for many years relied on supplies from hundreds of miles away and was subject to mechanical breakdowns, seasonal shortages and the whims of nature.
Since 1991, San Diego County ratepayers have conserved more than 1 million acre-feet of water, and per capita potable water use in the region decreased nearly 60 percent between fiscal years 1990 and 2019, according to the San Diego County Water Authority.
The findings are part of the Water Authority’s draft 2020 Urban Water Management Plan, which was released Monday for public review.
The report concludes that as a result of conservation and billions of dollars in infrastructure, San Diego should have sufficient water supplies through 2045.
“Thanks to decades of regional investments (and conservation) the draft plan shows that we don’t need to secure more regional supply sources for the foreseeable future,” Water Authority general manager Sandra Kerl said in a statement. “Instead we are focused on helping our member agencies develop local supplies, and looking for other ways we can continue to ensure supply reliability at a reasonable cost.”
As March begins to drag on with little precipitation in the forecast and few weeks left in California’s traditional wet season, we are in another dry year. This is California’s second dry year in a row since the 2012-2016 drought. Statistically, California has the most drought and flood years per average year than anywhere in the US. This statistical fact seems to becoming increasingly extreme, as predicted by many climate change models.
For decades, it was a source of drinking water for the San Marcos area. Today, the South Lake Reservoir has new life as a local wildlife habitat.
South Lake was built with an earthen dam and provided drinking water to the Lake San Marcos area, most of downtown San Marcos, and the Coronado Hills area. Updates to potable water treatment had detrimental effects on the lake ecology, so the Vallecitos Water District stopped using the lake as a drinking water source in 1984, although it remained an emergency water supply for another decade.
No matter whether their landscaping is just a few square feet alongside a front porch or estate acreage, thousands of San Diego County residents have learned to embrace sustainability as a central principle for creating and renovating their landscapes. The San Diego County Water Authority offers financial incentives and educational resources to customers in Fallbrook and Rainbow to improve their landscaping.
Forecasts based on U.S. Geological Survey data predict that the Klamath Basin will only fulfill about a third of what’s needed for agriculture. The Upper Klamath Lake is more than a foot lower than it was this time last year, which was also a drought year.
The Klamath County commissioners voted Tuesday to issue a county-level drought declaration. The board voted to request that Gov. Kate Brown’s office issue a state-level drought declaration, which would open up financial resources for water users.
President Biden gave final passage to a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, The American Rescue Plan Act.
Among the provision of the American Rescue Plan Act are additional COVID-19 relief amounting to $500 million in assistance for clean and drinking water customers. Additional support for critical water and sewer investments is also included in the measure, according to a joint press release by NAWCA and AWMA.
This year’s Women in Water Symposium conference theme “Flow With The Change” is fitting. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 event is online with a new virtual format. The online format generated just as much enthusiasm from participants as prior in-person meetings. And, the virtual conference also meant people from throughout the United States could Zoom in too.
The climate change cabal in Sacramento is ignoring some extremely low hanging fruit in their bid to protect us from ourselves.
The reason they don’t see it is simple. It doesn’t involve raising taxes, rewarding corporations or disruptor greenies they align with, nor does it destroy jobs.
The California Legislature needs to ban grass lawns for front yards as well as general commercial development for all new building projects.
