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Winning Vista Irrigation District WaterSmart Landscape Reduces Water Use

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Vista resident Deborah Brandt showed how attractive water-wise landscaping can be when low-water use plants are combined with other landscape components in winning the Vista Irrigation District’s 2019 WaterSmart Landscape Contest. District officials selected Brandt’s entry this month among many quality entries received.

The Vista Irrigation District is among 13 San Diego member agencies with landscape contests in 2019 with the goal of showcasing beautiful residential water-wise landscapes throughout the region.

 

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California Attorney General Says EPA Attempt To Limit Clean Water Act Oversight Is Unlawful

/in , , /by /Sierra Sun Times (Mariposa, Calif.)

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading a coalition of 14 states and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, on Friday filed a comment letter denouncing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) guidance that attempts to roll back state involvement in the permitting of federal projects under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. Section 401 and other provisions of the Clean Water Act preserve states’ authority to protect the quality of the waters within their borders. In the comment letter, Attorney General Becerra asserts that EPA’s guidance, which implements President Trump’s April 2019 Executive Order, is unlawful, directly contravenes both the language and intent of the Clean Water Act, and undermines state authority recognized under the Clean Water Act.

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OPINION: All Californians Deserve Clean Drinking Water

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicle

For years a million Californians have watched tainted, dirty water flow from their taps. These residents, overwhelmingly poor, Hispanic and living in small Central Valley towns, drive long distances to load up on bottled water for everyday basics. It’s shameful that in a state this rich, people still have to share shower water and schools have to plug up their drinking fountains. Thanks to overdue political attention, legislative horse trading and a dose of budget legerdemain, that situation is finally changing. Gov. Gavin Newsom showcased the final step with a bill signing in the aptly named hamlet of Tombstone in Fresno County.

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San Diego Aims To Bolster Biotech, Breweries With New Water Proposals

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

San Diego plans to boost the city’s already thriving biotech and craft beer industries by reducing their costs for sewer and water service, which are typically high because those businesses are water-dependent. The city plans to create California’s first “capacity bank” for water and sewer, which would allow breweries and biotech firms to cheaply buy excess capacity from former factories that have transitioned to other commercial uses. A companion proposal would geographically expand and soften the qualifying requirements for the city’s “guaranteed water” program, which ensures local firms access to water during droughts or other kinds of shortages.

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Escondido Water Employee Wins Award For Invention

/in , , /by /The Daily Times-Advocate (Escondido, Calif.) Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Escondido Water employee Joseph Lucero won an award from the California Water Environmental Association for his innovative device that  improved efficiencies and safety at the City of Escondido’s Hale Avenue Resource Recovery Facility. City of Escondido Plant Maintenance Technician Joseph Lucero won third place in the “Gimmicks/Gadgets” category in the 2019 California Water Environmental Association Awards competition. His innovative safety device turns a difficult two-person job working on wastewater pumps into a safer process one person can complete alone.

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Panel: An Update On How The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Is Working

/in , , /by /Valley Public Radio (Clovis, Calif.)by Monica Velez

When California adopted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, it became the last Western state to regulate its groundwater. If local groundwater agencies fail to submit plans to the state by 2020, the law says state water agencies could take over management of groundwater, a resource that’s critically important to Valley agriculture. Moderator Kathleen Schock got an update on how the work is progressing locally from Gary Serrato, executive director of the North Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency, Christina Beckstead, executive director of Madera County Farm Bureau, and David Orth with New Current Water and Land.

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Megadroughts Could Return To Southwestern U.S.

/in , , /by /National Geographicby Jenny Howard

Almost a thousand years ago, in the arid climate of the southwestern United States, the Chacoan culture flourished. Ancestors of southwest Native American tribes today, Chacoans built impressive multi-storied stone buildings with a far-reaching trade system selling colorful macaws for turquoise. But a desperate lack of water—a megadrought—caused the advanced civilization to seemingly vanish within a generation. Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.

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Colorful Carlsbad Water-Efficient Garden Wins Olivenhain MWD 2019 Landscape Contest

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Carlsbad residents Melanie and Bob Buck were honored as the 2019 WaterSmart Landscape Contest winners by the Olivenhain Municipal Water District during its July 24 board meeting. Melanie Buck worked to transform her landscape from large grassy areas and pine trees into a colorful, waterwise landscape design. The landscape now requires less than half of the water she once used. Visually stunning, the landscape also includes welcoming entertainment areas. Since installing the award-winning landscape, the Bucks have reduced their outdoor water use. They also benefit from far less expensive maintenance costs. Their home demonstrates the beauty of water-efficient landscapes with its vibrant colors and variety of textures using Bougainvillea, striking cactus, succulents, and California native plants and shrubs.

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Scrutiny Grows Over Whether Small, South County Water District Can Afford Desalination Plant

/in , , /by /The Orange County Register

The small South Coast Water District has taken key steps toward construction of a $110 million desalination plant, but the agency faces growing questions of whether it’s in over its head for the ambitious project to be built near Doheny State Beach. The project’s ocean-friendly technology has won praise from the same environmentalists fighting a desalter plant proposed by Poseidon Water for Huntington Beach, one of several things that distinguish the south county plant from the more controversial project to the north.

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Water Agencies Help Avoid Tax On Drinking Water

/in , , /by /Water News Network

After years of effort, water agencies across San Diego County and the state have helped to prevent an unprecedented tax on drinking water while ensuring funding for clean water initiatives in disadvantaged communities. On July 24, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that provides $130 million annually for the next 10 years to clean up polluted drinking water, mainly in the Central and Salinas valleys. Over the past three years, several proposals in Sacramento have proposed raising that money with a tax on residential water bills. Water industry groups, including the San Diego County Water Authority and several local retail agencies, were among the broad coalition of water, business and civic interests that opposed the tax.

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