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State Urges Public To Cut Power Consumption Due To Heat Wave

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

The operator of the state’s electric grid is urging the public to cut power consumption on Tuesday and Wednesday to help California get through what’s expected to be a record-breaking heat wave. The Flex Alerts are the first issued this year by the California Independent System Operator Corp. (CAISO) and will remain in effect from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. both days. “This heat wave could be like a long one we had in 2006, when lots of records were set and there were power problems,” said Alex Tardy, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Rancho Bernardo.

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Audit Of Water Department Billing Complaints Expected To Be Released Tuesday

/in , /by /NBC 7 (San Diego)by Dorian Hargrove, Tom Jones and Consumer Bob

A highly anticipated City Auditor report examining the city’s response to high water bills is expected to be released on Tuesday.  While the audit is just one of four investigations into a surge of complaints about fluctuating water bills, it will be the first opportunity for elected officials and the public to learn more about what caused the flood of complaints earlier this year.

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Six Schools Flagged For Dangerous Lead Were Promised New Plumbing; New Bond Promises It Again

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ashly McGlone

A majority of the 11 San Diego Unified schools flagged in 2017 and 2018 for unsafe levels of lead in the water were explicitly promised new or improved plumbing twice in the last decade under previous local facility bond tax measures, but haven’t yet received it, district records show. Safe drinking water has become a centerpiece of the pitch for a new $3.5 billion school facility bond by San Diego Unified School District officials, who say the new tax money would ensure old pipes and lead solders contaminating water with lead would be fixed or removed.

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San Diego Braces For High Temperatures, High Surf And Highly Dangerous Rip Currents

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

A summer heat wave will coincide with a large south swell this week in San Diego County, driving people to the coast where treacherous rip currents will roil near shore waters from Oceanside to Imperial Beach, says the National Weather Service. An excessive heat warning will be in effect in all areas except the coast from 10 a.m. Monday until 8 p.m. on Thursday. Temperatures will range from the 80s at and near the coast to the 90s and low 100s in some inland valleys and foothills, the weather service says. Temperatures will peak on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Water Wars Head Upstream As State Considers Cutbacks For Senior Central Valley Irrigation Districts

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

More than two decades after Los Angeles was forced to cut water diversions to protect California’s natural resources, the state is poised to impose similar restrictions on San Francisco and some of the Central Valley’s oldest irrigation districts. The proposal represents a dramatic new front in one of California’s most enduring water fights: the battle over the pastoral delta that is part of the West Coast’s largest estuary and also an important source of water for much of the state.

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OPINION: No One Can Live On The 55-Gallons-A-Day Water Limit California Is Imposing

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Marie Waldron

So can you live on 55 gallons of water a day? No one can. But legislation just enacted broadens authority of the state Water Resources Control Board, an unelected, unaccountable board to require this. The new mandates establish an indoor water use budget of 55 gallons per day for all Californians until 2025, reduced to 50 gallons/day after 2030. Civil penalties apply to water districts that are unable to meet the new guidelines. I opposed both Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668, which created these regulations.

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Hike Highlights Progress Along The San Diego River, A Once-Beleaguered Waterway On The Rise

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

Environmental advocates led a hike along the San Diego River in Mission Valley on Sunday morning to build awareness about ongoing efforts to remove invasive species from its banks. The San Diego River Park Foundation hosted the hour-long jaunt, showing off a dramatically improved section of the river located in the 52-acre Mission Valley Preserve. About a dozen folks in wide-brimmed hats and toting water bottles listened as Marina Varano, outreach associate with the foundation, educated the crowd about efforts to restore the riparian habitat.

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Gary Griggs, Our Ocean Backyard: The Costs Of Desalination

/in , /by /Santa Cruz Sentinel Newsby Gary Griggs Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

After 15 years of planning, design, environmental impact assessment and review, and final political approvals, the largest desalination plant in the U.S. went on line at Carlsbad in northern San Diego County in December of 2015. This is the most technologically advanced and energy-efficient desalination facility in the Western Hemisphere and taps the world’s largest reservoir of water, the Pacific Ocean. The Poseidon plant has the capacity to produce 50 million gallons of fresh water a day, which is about 7 to 10 percent of San Diego County’s total water usage. San Diego is an arid region and imports most of its water from somewhere else.

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California Wants To Reinvent The Power Grid. So What Could Go Wrong?

/in , /by /The New York Timesby Ivan Penn

Two decades ago, when California deregulated the delivery of electric power, lawmakers, regulators and even some environmentalists hailed the decision as a way to lower consumers’ bills. The strategy proved disastrous. The plan resulted in an energy crisis that sent power bills soaring, prompted billions in penalties against utilities and banks for manipulating the new electricity market, and led Congress to enact laws to help prevent it all from happening again. Now the state’s leaders have a new proposal for an energy makeover, this time to create a single authority to manage the electric grid for most or all of the West.

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Desalination Deal Draws Criticism From Groups Concerned About Water Affordability

/in , /by /Orange County Breeze

Last night, Orange County Water District voted 6-2 to approve terms for a new, non-binding agreement with privately-owned Poseidon Water for a Huntington Beach desalination project. If the District decides to move ahead with the deal once the plant is fully permitted, the agreement would commit Orange County ratepayers to buying Poseidon’s desalinated water for 30-35 years, while guaranteeing a significant profit for Poseidon’s investors. The billion-dollar desalination proposal has been widely opposed by local activists. Conservation and equity groups are concerned about its impact on water affordability, as well as its anticipated pollution of groundwater and ocean water, harm to sea life, and carbon emissions.

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