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County Supervisors To Weigh In Tuesday On SANDAG Transit Expansion Proposal

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Charles T. Clark

The San Diego Board of Supervisors will consider on Tuesday whether or not to support a new multi-billion dollar plan by the San Diego Association of Governments that would dramatically shift that group’s regional transportation plan toward prioritizing public transit expansion over building highways and roads. The proposal, which SANDAG unveiled Friday at a special meeting, would better position the region to meet state mandates related to greenhouse gas emissions and would add hundreds of miles of high-speed transit lines throughout the county, as far east as Poway and as far north as Oceanside, supporters say.

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L.A. Mayor Garcetti’s ‘Green New Deal’ Would Phase Out Gas-Fueled Cars

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled a sweeping plan for a more sustainable Los Angeles on Monday, calling for dramatic changes to the car culture, buildings and air quality of America’s second-largest city.
The mayor’s sustainability plan imagines a city where, by the mid-2030s, 80% of the cars run on electricity or zero-emission fuel, 80% of the electricity comes from renewable sources and Angelenos drive 2,000 fewer miles each year than they do now. It’s a far cry from today’s L.A., where gridlock, tailpipe pollution and smoggy air have come to define a way of life.

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California Adopts 2030 Preferred System Portfolio With 12 GW New Wind, Solar, Storage, Geothermal

/in , , /by /Utility Dive (Washington, D.C.)by Robert Walton

California’s IRP decision Friday is a major step for the state, but regulators stressed that the review process will be more robust going forward as increasing amounts of capacity are procured by aggregators rather than distribution utilities. The targets the commission approved “are not hard procurement targets for the load-serving entities, but they do point to the scale of what we need to procure, and they indicate the attributes of resources that we need to achieve the emissions, reliability, and cost goals,” Commissioner Liane Randolph wrote in a blog post. The order sets out “the optimal 2030 portfolio of supply- and demand-side resources needed to achieve our state’s ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.”

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Drones Offer Water Agencies Cost, Safety Benefits

/in , /by /Water News Network

Water agencies across San Diego County are saving time and money while improving employee safety with drones. Industry analysts say drone use by water agencies worldwide is growing. The Helix Water District, Otay Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority have embraced the technology, using drones to inspect and monitor facilities, and to map and survey inaccessible areas. Helix used a drone in February to check rooftop air vents on a water storage tank in El Cajon, rather than send employees high in the sky to do it. The agency determined it was too risky for employees – even with safety equipment – and too costly to have staff inspect the vents outside the 120-foot-high Fletcher Hills Combined Tank.

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NEPA looms over drought plan enthusiasm

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

Colorado River states cheered this month when President Trump signed swiftly passed legislation ratifying a drought plan for the waterway. But they could be in for a legal fight. Some lawyers say the Drought Contingency Plan, or DCP, may be built on shaky legal ground and could be vulnerable to litigation — depending on how the Bureau of Reclamation implements it.

 

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San Diego County Students Shape The Future of Water

/in , /by /Water News Network

On April 25, the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors honored the latest group of water-related award winners from the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair as part of the agency’s effort to inspire young people to pursue water industry careers. This year’s middle school and high school science and engineering projects displayed a wide range of innovative ways to solve a variety of water issues people face today. In the senior division, Alfred and Audrey Vargas won the first place award with the design of a new device to treat wastewater and generate electricity simultaneously using hydrogen fuel cell technology.

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Possible Showers And Scattered Thunderstorms Forecast For SoCal

/in , /by /KTLA 5 (Los Angeles)by Nouran Salahieh

Authorities reminded residents Sunday shelter from lightning as showers and scattered thunderstorms were forecast for Southern California. The storm was expected to move through the region Sunday night and all Monday, and bring dry and wet thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service. Weather officials warned of dangerous lightning over land and water and reminded residents that conditions can change quickly, especially in the mountains.

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Lake Wohlford Dam Replacement Hits A Wetland Snag

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones

The city of Escondido thought it had finally figured out how to raise the $35 million to $50 million it needs to replace the Lake Wohlford Dam. But then a complicated and prohibitively expensive problem arose. In 2007, studies determined that the top portion of the 124-year-old dam could collapse in a major earthquake, flooding eastern Escondido. So the city, under orders from a federal agency, immediately reduced the amount of water in the lake by more than half.

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$2.5 Million Awarded To Help Nonprofits Administer Sustainability-Focused Home Repairs

/in , /by /San Diego Community Newspaper Group

The City of San Diego recently awarded a $2.5 million grant through the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), allowing four local nonprofits to conduct sustainability-focused home repairs for low-income homeowners in the region. GRID Alternatives San Diego, the lead agency on the application, along with Habitat for Humanity San Diego, Rebuilding Together San Diego, and Urban Corps of San Diego County, bring nearly 90 combined years of experience providing services to low-income households. Their experience is diverse, ranging from installing solar on rooftops and job training for youth to building affordable housing and performing minor and major home rehabilitation.

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Keep Conserving, Officials Say, San Bernardino Valley Groundwater Basins Are ‘Historically Low’

/in , , /by /The Mercury News (San Jose)by Jennifer Iyer

As the Inland area dries out from this winter’s soaking, residents might be tempted to crank up their lawn sprinklers and wash the dust off their driveways, but not so fast, water officials say. All that rain has done little to erase the deficits in local groundwater basins which are at historic lows thanks to two decades of drought, according to the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, which manages water for 700,000 residents from Fontana to Yucaipa. Riverside is also a big user of water from San Bernardino valley basins. “The sky is not falling by any stretch, but the trend is negative,” said Bob Tincher, deputy general manager of resources for the district.

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