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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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EXCLUSIVE: Farmers and IID fight for water rights

/in , /by /KYMA-TV (Yuma, Ariz.)by Ray Dorantes

EL CENTRO, Calif. – A growing number of Imperial Valley residents said the area is in serious danger, threatened by a possible change in how water rights are implemented locally, giving just a few people the power to do with water as they please. Alex Cardenas, IID Director Division 1, said, “If they were able to sell water or transfer water out of here it would be absolutely devastating to our economy.”

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San Diego Grown Photo Contest Highlights County’s Agricultural Bounty

/in , /by /Water News Network

The San Diego County Water Authority is hosting a social media photo contest during Water Awareness Month in May to celebrate how safe and reliable water supplies fuel the region’s local farms and food production. The “San Diego Grown Photo Contest” on Instagram and Twitter highlights the significance of agriculture to the regional economy. As one of the nation’s top producers of avocados, ornamental trees and shrubs, flowers, succulents, lemons, and other agricultural products, San Diego County’s farms generate nearly $4.8 billion in total annual economic activity on some 250,000 acres.

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California Attorney General Becerra To Army Corps: Directive To Weaken State Oversight Of Water Quality Is Unlawful

/in , , /by /Sierra Sun Times

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra yesterday joined a multistate comment letter objecting to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) directive to weaken states’ oversight of projects impacting water quality. The Army Corps’ directive would drastically shorten timeframes for state water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). This abbreviated timeframe would prevent states from adequately assessing the water quality impacts of proposed federal projects to ensure states’ water resources are protected.

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OPINION: How Silicon Valley Provides The Blueprint For Cleaning Up Our Drinking Water

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Jason A. Heppler

In 2016 the Colorado health department announced the presence of cancer-causing chemicals in drinking water in Fountain, Colo., just outside Colorado Springs. Tests by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discovered that nearby military bases had been leaching toxic chemicals, including substances known as PFASs, into drinking water for decades, potentially contributing to higher-than-normal rates of cancer. The Department of Defense has since admitted their responsibility for at least 55 drinking-water site contaminations worldwide, and the EPA has announced new plans to set drinking-water limits for PFASs by the end of the year.

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Snowmelt Causes Seismic Swarm Near California’s Long Valley Caldera

/in , /by /Science Daily ( Rockville, Md.)

The unusual event prompted U.S. Geological Survey researcher Emily Montgomery-Brown and her colleagues to look back through 33 years of seismic and water records for the region. They found that rates of shallow seismicity were about 37 times higher during very wet periods versus dry periods. Although scientists have linked earthquakes to heavy rainfall or heavy runoff before this, the evidence connecting the two has been relatively weak or ambiguous, says Montgomery-Brown. In the Long Valley Caldera case, she says, “we’re seeing phenomenal correlation between the seismicity and the stream discharge, and we are seeing about 37 times the number of earthquakes during the wet season as during the dry season.”

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