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Escondido Hires Firm To Plan Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Deborah Sullivan Brennan

Escondido is moving forward on a reverse osmosis treatment facility that will reduce the city’s wastewater and also provide more recycled water for agricultural use. The project will divert millions of gallons of water from the discharge pipeline, and turn it into highly treated irrigation water. It’s expected to begin construction in early 2020 and come online in December, 2021. “This will not only generate a new supply of water to farmers that is economically viable to them, but it also will save our wastewater customers an enormous amount of money,” said Director of Utilities, Christopher McKinney.

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Microplastics In Drinking Water ‘Don’t Appear To Pose Health Risk,’ WHO Says

/in , /by /FOX 5 San Diego

They may be in our oceans, rivers and ice but there’s little evidence to suggest that microplastics in the water we drink pose a risk to our health. In its first review on the health risks of plastic in tap and bottled water, the World Health Organization said that microplastics “don’t appear to pose a health risk at current levels,” but the key finding came with a big caveat — the review said available information was limited and more research was needed on microplastics and how they affect human health.

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OPINION: Eagle River Watershed Council: The Mighty Colorado Faces Challenges

/in , /by /Vail Daily (Eagle County, Colo.)by Holly Loff

The mighty Colorado. Its very name makes some nostalgic, others wishful of adventure and, still others, fearful. Whatever your feelings, we are lucky to have about 55 miles of the Colorado River flowing through our county. Not to mention the Eagle River is a significant headwaters tributary to the Colorado River, and many of us recreate on and/or near the Colorado River. However, it is not a river without challenges, as drought, aridification, climate change, and human activities reduce flows and change the timing of hydrologic events. There are images everywhere of the “bathtub rings” in Lake Powell and Lake Mead, showing how low both of these water storage areas are, despite this big water year.

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Opinion: Pumped-Storage Hydropower Can Help Washington Meet Its 100% Clean-Energy Goal

/in , , /by /Seattle Times by Nate Sandvig and Matthew Hepner

As Washington state begins its transition to a carbon-free electrical supply, a new project under development near Goldendale has the potential to deliver an abundance of clean electricity to support the Northwest energy grid. This project already has the support of a wide range of stakeholders.

The proposed Goldendale Pumped Storage Project, eight miles south of Goldendale next to the Columbia River, would create 1,200 megawatts of clean electricity to integrate into the existing power grid, as well as tap into and use power already being generated by the Northwest’s wind and solar-energy projects.

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SDPD Warns Of Thieves Posing As City Utility Employees

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Alex Riggins

A pair of thieves posing as city water department employees conned their way into a La Jolla home earlier this month, distracting the elderly homeowner as they stole cash and jewelry, police said Tuesday. The same two men wanted in connection with the scam and theft in La Jolla are also wanted for questioning in a similar incident that occurred nine days prior in the nearby community of Bird Rock, according to San Diego police detective Sgt. Ron Bailiff. Police say the two men identified themselves as being from “the water department” when they knocked on the front door at the La Jolla home around 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 9.

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More Work Needed On State’s Drinking Water Crisis

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, Calif.)by Mary Creasman

California has a drinking water crisis. More than 1 million people in California lack access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water. Four hundred schools in our state have lead contamination in their drinking water. About 300 public water systems in our state are not in compliance with drinking water standards. This is a public health and environmental crisis. In late July, Governor Newsom signed a law that will establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. Starting next year and for the next ten years, this fund will provide $130 million in funding for cleaning up drinking water systems, including many rural areas that lack funding for ongoing operations and maintenance.

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Fears Of Coastal Climate Change Prompt Santa Cruz Action

/in , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinalby Jessica A. York

As coastal climate change concerns heat up, the issue increasingly has been catalyzing political debate locally.Looking to make proactive change, Santa Cruz’s sustainability and climate action manager is about eight months into the city’s Resilient Coast Santa Cruz initiative, which looks at and plans for how the effects of sea-level rise will come home to roost along the city’s West Cliff Drive, via worsening coastal storms, flooding and cliff erosion. Under the initiative, the city is working to create the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan, a two-year project funded with a $353,677 California Department of Transportation grant matched by the city’s $45,825.

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Craft Beer Industry Economic Impact In San Diego Rises To $1.2 Billion

/in , /by /Water News Network

As the nation’s “Capital of Craft,” San Diego County is home to more than 150 breweries that boast nearly 6,500 local jobs. In 2018, the regional craft beer industry produced $1.2 billion in economic impact, according to a report by California State University San Marcos and the San Diego Brewers Guild. California has more operational craft breweries than any other state in the country. As of January 2019, 155 independent craft brewers were operating in San Diego County. The regional economic benefits generated by the industry would not be possible without the safe and reliable water supply that the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies deliver to the region every day.

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Irvine Lake Is Rebounding After Seven Years Of Drought Conditions

/in , /by /Orange County Register (Anaheim, Calif.)by Alicia Robinson

What a difference a year – and a whole lot of rain – can make for a reservoir. Irvine Lake was created in 1931 with the completion of the Santiago Dam just west of the Santa Ana Mountains. While it can hold as much as 25,000 acre feet of water (an acre foot is enough to cover a football field at one foot deep), through California’s punishing seven-year drought it often held much less. Just a year ago, the water level was at 2,700 acre feet and large swaths of parched dirt were left exposed….

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California Water Board OKs $1.3 Billion For Clean Drinking Water

/in , /by /Courthouse News Service (Pasadena, Calif.)by Maria Dinzeo

California’s water regulator voted Tuesday to spend $1.3 billion over the next 10 years to provide safe drinking water to communities throughout California. The money allocated by the State Water Resources Control Board comes from the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, created last month when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 200. Also known as the California Safe Drinking Water Act, the legislation written by state Senator Bill Monning, D-Carmel, guarantees $130 million annually for safe drinking water through 2030, using revenue from California’s cap-and-trade program. The budget passed by the Legislature in June provides the funding for this year.

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