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San Diego County Water Authority Planning for Pipeline Work in Rancho Bernardo, Poway

/in , , /by /Poway News Chieftainby Elizabeth Marie Himchak Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority will begin aqueduct maintenance next spring, with the $66 million project expected to be complete in summer 2026. The project area will include pipelines that run through Rancho Bernardo and Poway.

The Southern First Aqueduct Facilities Improvement Project will focus on 99 aqueduct support structures in streets, along access roads and within utility easements. There are two 48-inch- and 54-inch-diameter critical regional pipelines involved, officials said.

The plan is for one pipeline to be taken offline at a time, according to engineering manager Brent Fountain, who spoke at the Rancho Bernardo Planning Board’s Oct. 19 meeting. The project is “very proactive” because it will be replacing some of the concrete vault structures and doing other infrastructure work to components, such as air vents and pump wells, before it becomes absolutely necessary, Fountain said.

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San Diego Temporarily Solved its Water Crisis by Turning Ocean Water into Fresh Water. But Desalination Won’t Work Everywhere.

/in , , /by /Business Insiderby Maiya Focht Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

In the early 1990s, San Diego was dying on the vine, starved of water in a series of years long droughts.

The county, which relied almost entirely on imported water, had to cut back on 30% of its usage and was at risk of losing 50%.

At the last minute, a miracle saved San Diego — rain and snow in the desert replenished aquifers, saving the city from intense cutbacks.

But the water didn’t extinguish the passion of San Diegans, who after finding themselves in this situation, rallied together to find a way to become more self-sufficient, Jeremy Crutchfield, the water-resources manager at the San Diego County Water Authority, told Insider.

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California’s Young ‘Water Buffalo’ JB Hamby Spurs United Colorado River Rescue, For Now

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sun (via Yahoo News)by Janet Wilson

It was a rough debut. JB Hamby, 26 years old, had rocketed to the innermost circle of state and federal officials charged with saving the Colorado River from collapse. In mid-January, he was elected to chair California’s river board, representing Imperial Irrigation District, by far the biggest recipient of the overused river’s supply.

Federal officials had bluntly threatened to impose mandatory cuts across the region if huge voluntary reductions weren’t made.

But 12 days later, after contentious closed-door talks, he watched in dismay as media outlets across the U.S. published stories about six states releasing a joint plan to save the river, with only his state, California, refusing to sign on.

It was a baptism by near drowning for the youngest “water buffalo,” as negotiators of Colorado River agreements have historically called themselves. But Hamby didn’t respond angrily or publicly. Instead he wrote individual thank-you notes to top negotiators in every other state, and asked if he could meet with each to discuss mutual solutions.
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A New SoCal Underground Water Storage Project Aims to Keep Supplies Flowing During Drought

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

A solution to help bolster Southern California’s water outlook during future droughts is taking shape in the Mojave Desert. Water transported in canals and pipelines has begun flowing into a series of basins carved into the desert, filling a large underground reservoir that will be available to draw upon in dry times.

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San Diego Warns Residents of Fraudulent ‘Water Update’ Notices, Likely Scam

/in , , /by /Times of San Diego by Debbie L. Sklar

San Diego Friday warned residents to be on the lookout for fake “water update” notice at their homes that appear to be from a private company with no association with the city.

Residents contacted by the company are urged not to agree to services and not to provide personal information.

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Public Event Marks Start of Work on North Shore Salton Sea Project

/in , , , /by /The Desert Review

Riverside County and Salton Sea officials held a public event Oct. 19 in North Shore to mark reaching a significant milestone in the development of the future North Lake Pilot Demonstration Project.

The event was held at the North Shore Beach & Yacht Club Community Center, 99-155 Sea View Drive. The yacht club overlooks the project’s future site along Riverside County’s northern shore of the Salton Sea.

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Next Steps to Protect Stability and Sustainability of Colorado River Basin

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

The Biden-Harris administration October 25 announced next steps in the efforts to protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System and strengthen water security in the West. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation released a revised draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) as part of the ongoing, collaborative effort to update the current interim operating guidelines for the near-term operation of Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams to address the ongoing drought and impacts from the climate crisis.

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U.N. Report Warns of Catastrophic Climate Tipping Points. California is Nearing Several

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

Humanity is on course to transgress multiple global “tipping points” that could lead to irreversible instability or the complete collapse of ecological and institutional systems, a United Nations report warned Wednesday.

The third annual Interconnected Disaster Risks report from the U.N. University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security in Bonn, Germany, found that drastic changes will occur if urgent actions are not taken around six moments when sociological systems are no longer able to buffer risks.

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Forecasters Predict Another Wetter-Than-Average Winter on the Way for Central California

/in , , /by /The Union Democrat by Guy McCarthy

The Central Sierra Nevada and the rest of Central California could see another wetter-than-average winter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its U.S. Winter Outlook for December through February.

A winter outlook map for precipitation, released Thursday, shows wetter-than-average conditions are most likely in areas that include parts of Central California and Nevada.

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Western States’ Planned Water Cuts Are Enough to Avert a Colorado River Crisis, for Now

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Rachel Becker

California, Nevada and Arizona’s historic pact to cut their use of the Colorado River’s overtapped supplies should be enough to keep the basin’s massive reservoirs from hitting dangerously low levels — for now, a federal analysis reported today.

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