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OPINION: The Water Resource Right Outside The Window

Across most of America, the lawn sprinklers are taking their winter’s rest, but it won’t be long before billions of gallons of water start nursing thirsty turf back to life. Nationwide, the tug of war over diminishing water resources provokes challenging questions about how we should prioritize water use among competing interests like agriculture, urban consumption and the environment. These questions grow increasingly difficult as more communities realize they don’t have enough water to go around.

OPINION: How Can California Capture More Water? Competing Interests Will Have To Compromise

Storm water has been rampaging down the Sacramento River, carrying ripped out docks, uprooted trees and homeowners’ backyards, hellbent for the Golden Gate. But very little of this precious water can be saved. Environmental restrictions limit the amount of water that can be pumped into southbound aqueducts. That’s because the pumps are deadly for fish, particularly young salmon trying to reach the ocean.

Water Transfer Between Reservoirs Set To Generate Cost Savings For South Bay Customers

The water gushed from a valve near the base of the Loveland Reservoir’s dam at 146,300 gallons per minute, cascading into the Sweetwater River below. The impressive sight near Alpine — which occurred, purposely, at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 15 — marked the start of an ongoing transfer of water from the Loveland Reservoir to the Sweetwater Reservoir, where the water will be treated by the Sweetwater Authority and later supplied to the water agency’s customers in National City, Chula Vista and Bonita.

Environment Report: The Vision For A San Diego Green New Deal

Local environmental activists, hoping to catch a wave of national attention on a so-called Green New Deal in Congress, are starting to rally for a San Diego version of the plan. The nonprofit Climate Action Campaign rolled out the idea of a “San Diego Green New Deal” last week alongside an annual report that rated the various plans to fight climate change already adopted by local governments.

Rain Barrels Work With Long Beach Sustainability Efforts

For the next 75 days, Cindy Berglund will be traveling around Southern California in her motor home, lugging rain barrels with her. Last weekend, her company, Rain Barrels International, joined with the city’s Office of Sustainability to offer a free class on rainwater harvesting. More than 80 people signed up in advance for the class at Recreation Park but the presentation ended up being to a standing room only crowd.

Garcetti Pledges L.A. Will Recycle 100% Of Wastewater By 2035

Mayor Eric Garcetti pledged last week that Los Angeles will recycle 100 percent of its wastewater by 2035 as part of an effort to reduce the city’s dependence on imported water. “Conservation is about more than how we respond to a dry year — it should shape how we prepare our city for tomorrow,” Garcetti said. “Maximizing L.A.’s recycling capacity will increase the amount of water we source locally, and help to ensure that Angelenos can count on access to clean water for generations to come.”

‘The Great Flood Of 1916’: Could History Repeat Itself At The Sweetwater Dam?

The heavy rainfall of early 2019 has been a welcome sight for many in San Diego County hoping for an improvement in California’s drought conditions. However, with that rainfall comes some concern about the structural integrity of county dams and the potential for catastrophic flooding on par with a devastating event that happened over 100 years ago in the South Bay.

Gila River Indian Community Moves Ahead With Colorado River Drought Plan After Clash With Lawmaker

Arizona’s efforts to finish a Colorado River drought plan are moving forward after leaders of the Gila River Indian Community announced that they will proceed with their piece of the deal. The community’s leader, Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis, had threatened to pull out of the agreement if the Legislature didn’t drop a bill that he said would undermine the community’s water rights under a hard-fought settlement.

In Case You Missed It: San Diego Weekend News Digest For Saturday, Feb. 23

To help make sure you stay informed on the most shared and talked about stories in San Diego County, each Saturday we’ll revisit five stories from the previous week and capsulize them in this digest with the most recent updates. A report released this week confirms that most of California is no longer in drought thanks to a series of winter storms that have walloped the state in February. San Diego County is part of the 33 percent of the state that remains in the abnormally dry category but it is a stark improvement from three months ago, when the entire state was in that category.

California’s Central Valley: Ground Zero In Water War

Stretching hundreds of miles from the mountains bordering Los Angeles north toward the state capital, the San Joaquin Valley doesn’t resemble landscapes typically associated with California. Devoid of the skyscrapers, beaches and bridges that make California famous, the sprawling valley is instead filled with thousands of farms and oil fields that quietly help drive the state’s $2.7 trillion economy. Known as the “food basket of the world,” for over a century the valley and its rich soil have spoiled Americans with a wide variety of nuts, produce, wine grapes, dairy and even cotton.