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Drought-Related Water Pollution Disproportionately Affects California Latino Communities: Study

/in , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

Drought-driven drinking water contamination is disproportionately affecting members of California’s Latino communities, a new study has found.

Among the pollutants plaguing these water systems are arsenic and nitrate, which are linked to an increased risk of a variety of diseases, according to the study, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Public Health. Some such illnesses include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, developmental disorders and birth defects.

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Local Water Rates to Increase 14.9%

/in , /by /Valley Road Runner by David Ross Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Valley Center Municipal Water District rates will see an overall rate increase of 16.1 % effective January 1, 2025 from its wholesale supplier, the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), which supplies 100% of VCMWD’s water. When combined with a lower 5% increase for locally controlled operations costs, the net impact for most customers will be 14.9%.

Last year the overall rate of increase was 9%. “This one is a little bit larger than we have seen in the past,” VCMWD Gen. Mgr Gary Arant told The Roadrunner. “Though in the mid-90s rates went up over 30% in some years. It is certainly not unprecedented in the history of rate increases.”

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Stemster Mains Man Hailed a Hero for Helping Fix Water Crisis in Canadian City

/in , /by /John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courierby David G Scott Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

A Caithness man now living in the United States was hailed as a hero by the people of Calgary for helping fix a major water crisis in the city.

Martin Coghill originally hails from Stemster Mains and now lives with his family in California where he is the operations and maintenance manager for asset management at the San Diego County Water Authority.

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Arrowhead Water Bottler Ordered to Stop Operations in California Mountains

/in , /by /Fox 5/KUSIby Cameron Kiszla

The federal government has backed up California state regulators in ordering the company that bottles Arrowhead water to stop drawing from the San Bernardino Mountains.

Though BlueTriton Brands draws from springs in the mountains that have been used for bottled water since 1906, environmental activists have claimed the removal of that water is harming wildlife, particularly Strawberry Creek.

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Some California Drinking Water Disproportionately Contaminated by Nitrate, Arsenic—an Issue Worsened by Drought

/in , /by /Food Safety Magazine

A new study has uncovered a disparity between the safety of drinking water in certain regions of California—serving majority Latino communities—and water from community water systems in other areas of the state. Led by University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara) researchers, the study uncovered that some drinking water systems have higher nitrate and arsenic contamination levels, and that the contamination is exacerbated by droughts, which may become more frequent with climate change.

Long-term exposure to contaminants such as arsenic and nitrate in water is linked to an increased risk of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, developmental disorders, and birth defects in infants. According to the study, in the U.S., there is an acknowledged disparity in exposure to contaminants in tap water provided by community water systems. Scientific literature demonstrates that, oftentimes, systems distributing water with higher contamination levels exist in areas that lack adequate public infrastructure or sociopolitical and financial resources.

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OPINION: How to Achieve Water Abundance in California

/in , /by /California Globeby Edward Ring

A study released in May, The Magnitude of California’s Water Challenges, anticipated annual statewide water supply losses in the coming decades as follows: ending groundwater overdraft 2-3 million acre-feet (MAF), less from the Colorado River 0.5-0.8 MAF, climate change 1-3 MAF, and increases to required environmental flows 1-2 MAF. The total losses? 4.6 to 9 MAF per year. It’s easy enough to quibble over these estimates, but a more productive response is to propose ways we can sustainably harvest more water in California. So that’s what we have done.

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Otay Water District to Discuss Replacement Process for Board of Directors Division One Seat Aug. 7

/in /by /East County Magazine
The Otay Water District announced that board member Tim Smith, representing division one, has resigned from the Otay board of directors after nearly a decade of service to the community on water issues.
Smith was first elected to the Otay board in December 2014 and has successfully been re-elected to the office since. His resignation, effective August 2, was formally submitted in a letter. The Otay board will discuss the process for selecting a replacement, either by appointment or election, to serve the remaining two years of Smith’s term during its meeting on August 7.
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California To Send 200 Litres of Water per Second to Mexico Amid Shortage

/in , /by /Newsweek Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority will supply the Mexican state of Baja California with 200 liters of water per second to support Tijuana residents during the summer. This water will be delivered through an international pipeline connecting San Diego, California, to Tijuana.

“There is a greater demand when it gets hot,” said Carlos Alberto Machado Parra, director for Baja’s Public Service and Planning Commission (CESPT) in Tijuana, according to Border Report. “We always maintain this binational connection so we can supply neighborhoods that may be short on supply. “

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How Have California’s Water Issues Changed in the Past Thirty Years?

/in , /by /Public Policy Institute of California

Back in 1994, Ace of Base and Boys II Men were chart-topping artists, “The Lion King” was the year’s most popular movie…and the Public Policy Institute of California drew its first breath. A lot has changed in California since then, so we sat down with key PPIC Water Policy Center staff to discuss what’s changed—and what hasn’t—in the California water world since the year the White House launched its first webpage.

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Senate Passes California Water Infrastructure and Ecosystem Restoration Priorities

/in , /by /PublicCEO

Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife, announced that he secured several top water infrastructure priorities for California through the unanimous Senate passage of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024. The legislation includes provisions Padilla fought for to address the Tijuana River transboundary sewage crisis, to invest in salmon recovery and habitat restoration around the Sacramento River Basin, and to provide the Army Corps of Civil Engineers with enhanced drought and flood control authorities.

The Senate and House of Representatives have each passed their respective versions of WRDA, which will now be conferenced to produce final legislation.

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