San Diego Gas and Electric has temporarily turned off power to about 400 customers across inland San Diego County to minimize chances that its power lines will spark wildfires while the Santa Ana winds are blowing. The largest outage involves 344 customers in Live Oak Springs and Jacumba, where the power is not expected to be fully restored until 5 p.m. on Saturday.
California has always promised Americans a glimpse of the future. But this week, the Golden State is forecasting a future that nobody wants to live in. Millions of people across California lost their power this week, after the local utility Pacific Gas and Electric intentionally shut off electrical lines to avoid starting wildfires in dangerously dry and windy conditions.
The outage—termed a “public-safety power shutoff”—stretched hundreds of miles across the state’s northern half, dousing the lights in affluent Bay Area suburbs, on Sacramento Valley ranches, and in large coastal cities such as Eureka.
To survive the next drought and meet the looming demands of the state’s groundwater sustainability law, California is going to have to put more water back in the ground. But as other Western states have found, recharging overpumped aquifers is no easy task.
A public meeting to decide what fixes might be applied to change the fate of the dying Salton Sea — and how much taxpayer money should be spent on the effort — will be held Tuesday morning in North Shore, hosted by a committee chaired by Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez.
“I’m glad we’re having this meeting in North Shore, which is where our efforts are centered on in providing a safe and stable Salton Sea, protecting public health and the environment and creating economic, tourism and recreation opportunities,” Perez said.
The San Diego County Water Authority ratified two contracts for the repair of Pipeline 4 in Moosa Canyon. A unanimous CWA board vote Sept. 26 ratified a $950,000 contract with J.F. Shea Construction Inc. for the repair of Pipeline 4 and a contract for $871,342 with Fibrwrap Construction Services, Inc., for the carbon fiber relining of Pipeline 4. The action also authorized the continuation of the emergency declaration which exempts the CWA from the normal contract procurement process and from California Environmental Quality Act review.
The EPA will unveil the first updates to its regulations on lead in drinking water in nearly three decades at an Oct. 10 event in Green Bay, Wis., according to a person invited to attend the event.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler is scheduled to attend the event, along with David Ross, the agency’s top water official, and Cathy Stepp, the head of its Midwestern regional office.
The agency’s lead regulations, officially known as the Lead and Copper Rule, went into effect in 1991 and haven’t been substantially updated since then.
Defense industry personnel and military operations continue to be a significant driver of San Diego’s economy and, according to a new report, are projected to grow in the coming years.
The report, released today by the San Diego Military Advisory Council, projected this impact will increase 7 percent next year as the national defense strategy continues to shift toward the Pacific, and more Navy ships are home-ported in San Diego.
The Earth’s coastal and polar areas are on thin ice, a new climate report warns, but San Diego may be in a better place than others to weather those changes if it acts swiftly, several authors said.
“The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate,” released last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, explored the effects of warming on the world’s oceans and frozen places.
San Diego is grappling with rising seas, coastal erosion and marine heat waves, periods when seawater hits record-high temperatures. However, natural variability in the region’s sea level, ocean temperature and chemistry may position coastal cities to stay ahead of future changes, several authors said.
Not only did the lights go out for tens of thousands of Californians on Wednesday, but some of them were bracing for the loss of their taps and toilets, too.
Utilities across the state were warning residents that PG&E’s planned power outages could limit their ability to deliver water and carry off sewage, especially if the shut-off were to continue for days.
NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science is awarding more than $1.5M in fiscal year 2019, of an anticipated total of $4.4M over the next three years, to more than 30 academic, government and non-governmental organizations for research into how natural, man-made and restored coastal habitats could reduce the effects of sea level rise, flooding and storms.
