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Reservoirs Are So Full Long Beach Will Buy Water at a Discount, Save its Groundwater

/in , , /by /Long Beach Post by Jason Ruiz

With California reservoirs full after a historically wet winter, the Long Beach Utilities Commission has signed off on a plan to buy more imported water at a discount to help other cities clear space to capture more rain during the upcoming winter season.

Long Beach typically pumps over 60% of its customers’ water from local ground aquifers and is able to avoid paying for more expensive water piped in through the State Water Project or the Colorado River.

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QSA: Landmark Conservation Pact Marks 20 Years of Water Security for San Diego

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Twenty years ago, in October 2003, water officials from across the Southwest signed the largest water conservation-and-transfer agreement in U.S. history, the QSA, or Quantification Settlement Agreement. The agreement has provided decades of water security for San Diego County and benefits for numerous partners across the Southwest. In total, that pact supplies more than half of the water that sustains San Diego County’s 3.3 million residents and $268 billion economy.

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IID Dedicates New Lloyd Allen Water Conservation Operational Reservoir

/in , , /by /Imperial Valley Press Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors conducted a formal dedication of its newest water conservation and operational reservoir located just east of here on Wednesday, October 11, named after longtime Division 3 Director Lloyd Allen.

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Escondido Prepares for Proposed Water Rate Hikes

/in , , /by /FOX 5 San Diego by Kasia Gregorczyk Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

One week away from the city of Escondido voting on a potential double-digit water rate increase, council members received a presentation about the rate increase already decided on by San Diego County Water Authority.

“The board ultimately chose to go with a smoothing approach for the rate increases with an effective rate increase of 9.5% for calendar year 2024,” said Tish Berge, deputy general manager for SDCWA.

Berge explained the smoothing approach meant projected future increases wouldn’t be as steep. The county water authority cites several similar factors as the city for needing to raise the rate like inflation and maintaining infrastructure, but they also say they’ve lost money as a result of more frequent rainfall.

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Scientists Disagree About Drivers of September’s Global Temperature Spike, but It Has Most of Them Worried

/in , , /by /Inside Climate News by Bob Berwyn

September’s stunning rise of the average global temperature is all but certain to make 2023 the warmest year on record, and 2024 is likely to be even hotter, edging close to the “red line” of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above the pre-industrial level that the 2015 Paris climate agreement is striving to avoid.

As of Oct. 10, the daily average Northern Hemisphere temperature had been at a record high for 100 consecutive days.

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Supervisors OK Ordinance Amendment Tied to Borrego Springs Groundwater

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

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 Wednesday to align county regulations with a court ruling allowing users in the Borrego Springs Subbasin to pump groundwater.

In 2021, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled that users in the Borrego Springs Subbasin have the right to pump groundwater. In connection with that ruling, a required 70% reduction in groundwater use to comply with the state Sustainable Groundwater Management Act must be achieved by 2040.

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Helix Water District Demonstration Garden Wins Orchid Award

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Helix Water District received an Orchid Award for Landscape Architecture from the San Diego Architectural Foundation at its 2023 annual Orchids and Onions architecture and design awards gala on October 5. The Orchid Award went to the district for its WaterSmart Demonstration Garden.

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Expect to See Solar Panels Along San Diego Highways Per One of the Energy Bills Newsom Has Signed Into Law

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

Within a couple of years, drivers in San Diego County can expect to see solar panels along the highway.

That’s the plan for Senate Bill 49, one of a number of energy-related legislation Sacramento lawmakers passed and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law.

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Eden Brukman is San Diego County’s New Chief Sustainability Officer

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby San Diego County

Eden Brukman is the new chief of the San Diego County Office of Sustainability and Environmental Justice (OSEJ). In addition to her unbridled passion for service and helping others, Brukman brings more than two decades of sustainability leadership experience to the role.

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Phoenix Experienced Its Hottest and Driest Summer on Record

/in , , /by /Axios Phoenix by Jessica Boehm

Phoenix experienced its hottest summer on record with an average temperature of 97 degrees — more than 3 degrees warmer than the 30-year average between 1991 and 2020, per an analysis of NOAA data.

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