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Water Department Refunds Over Billing Errors Have Skyrocketed

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Over the past year, San Diego’s water department refunded over $650,000 to hundreds of customers who received unjustifiably high water bills. The payouts are another sign of how water customers were affected by bad bills from the city. Over 1,100 customers received refunds this year, meaning the city overcharged the average customer by more than $500. The number and cost of refunds has dramatically risen in recent years, according to department records analyzed by Voice of San Diego and NBC 7 Responds as part of an ongoing investigation into the water department’s billing practices.

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Plan To Raise Water Rates Voted Down By Santa Fe Irrigation District Board

/in , /by /Del Mar Timesby Joe Tash

A plan to raise rates by an average of 3 percent per year over the next three years was voted down Thursday, Dec. 20, by the Santa Fe Irrigation District Board of Directors. The 3-2 vote by the board followed an eight-month process that included a series of public meetings and a rate study prepared by a consultant, which determined the district’s revenue needs in the coming years, and recommended a new rate structure to generate the additional funds.

 

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DWR Releases Draft California Water Plan Update 2018 For Public Review

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) yesterday released the Public Review Draft of the California Water Plan Update 2018. The draft plan presents a vision for greater collaboration in water management, with a focus on achieving long-term sustainability and improvements to public health, the economy, and the environment. The California Water Plan is the state’s comprehensive strategic plan for managing and developing water resources sustainably. DWR publishes a plan update every five years, as directed by California Water Code.

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OPINION: A Long-Term Solution To California’s Water Woes

/in , /by /Whittier Daily Newsby Marc Joffe

After years of drought and the recent devastating wildfires, Californians have been frequently reminded of water’s key role in everything from subduing the tragic blazes to its continuous uses for key agriculture, residential and commercial needs across the state. In the past, California has battled shortages and water challenges by rationing. But Israel has shown there may be a better long-term solution. Like California, Israel has an arid climate. Unlike the Golden State, Israel has solved its water shortage by commissioning a series of privately built and operated seawater desalination plants.

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Warming Winters And Dwindling Sierra Nevada Snowpack Will Squeeze Water Resources In Parts Of California, NOAA Reports

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Timesby Michon Scott

Snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains provides roughly 75 percent of California’s agricultural water, and 60 percent of Southern California’s water resources. Warm winters can cause snow droughts in the Sierra Nevada, both by nudging precipitation in the direction of rainfall rather than snowfall, and by melting snow sooner. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, uses historical records and modeling to understand how the Sierra Nevada snowpack may respond to rising temperatures. Based on the new study, this figure shows how the snowpack could fare in the Sierra Nevada with a 1°C (1.8°F) increase in average winter air temperature.

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Rain Might Spritz San Diego County on Christmas Day

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

There’s a chance that a Pacific storm will blow ashore on Christmas Eve and drop 0.10” to 0.25” of rain on parts of San Diego County by the end of Christmas Day, says the National Weather Service. And that system might be followed by a second storm a couple of days later. “The models don’t agree on the Christmas forecast,” said Phil Gonsalves, a weather service forecaster. “One says rain. The other says it will be dry. We’re going with the wetter model, at the moment. “The storm wouldn’t be nearly as strong as the last couple we’ve had.”

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Water Department Refunded $8.3 Million To Water Customers Since 2015

/in , /by /NBC San Diegoby Tom Jones, Dorian Hargrove and Bob Hansen

Since 2015, San Diego’s Water Department has refunded water customers more than $8.3 million, according to new data obtained by NBC 7 Responds and media partner Voice of San Diego. The bulk of the $8.3 million refund total was paid to the U.S. Navy, which received $4.7 million in October 2017 for years of water overcharges at the Naval base facilities in Point Loma. A spokesperson for the city confirmed the refund was issued in late 2017 after it was discovered that water passing through the Navy’s water meter, tied to the Point Loma facility account, was delivered to water customers across the city. This resulted in the Navy paying for water it did not use.

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San Diego Says Number of Lead Service Lines in City Likely Less Than 1%

/in , /by /NBC San Diegoby Tom Jones

San Diego’s Public Utilities Department is responding quickly to recent reports on the possibility of the city’s water lines being made out of lead. Last week, as reported by NBC 7, San Diego’s Water Department had informed California’s Water Board that it couldn’t identify the materials used to make two-thirds of its service lines. The city’s disclosure differed from statements it had made to NBC 7 and media partner Voice of San Diego last year. At that time, a senior water department chemist said there were no lead pipes in the city’s distribution system.

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City’s Dispute With SDG&E Could Add $48M to the Cost of Pure Water Project

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

In recent months, the city and San Diego Gas & Electric have tussled over the future of energy in San Diego. Now, they’re in a multimillion-dollar dispute over the largest local water project in modern history. The city is working on a $1.4 billion water recycling project, known as a Pure Water. A new water treatment plant will eventually purify enough sewage to provide a third of the city’s drinking water. To build the plant and connect it to the rest of the city’s water system, the city must move some of SDG&E’s equipment.

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Democrats’ House Takeover Could mean Big changes For California Water Policy

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sarah D. Wire

Among the changes ahead when Democrats take control of the House in January, add this one: The switch will upend the balance of power in California’s water wars. In the two years since Republicans’ 2016 election triumphs, party members from the Central Valley led by the current House majority leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, have gotten several water bills for their area through Congress. Those included the first significant California-specific policy in decades, as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, also called the WIIN Act.

 

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