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Water Rate Increase Planned For This Year

/in , /by /Santa Monica Daily Pressby Madeleine Pauker

Water rates will go up nine percent in 2019 as the City of Santa Monica embarks on several projects to wean itself off of imported water. City Council is expected to approve the rate hike at its Tuesday meeting. The average single-family home customer will pay about $4.33 more per month for water to fund the design of a larger, more efficient water treatment plant, the purchase of a new well and the cost of replacing the city’s aging water mains, said chief sustainability officer Dean Kubani. The rate increase will go into effect retroactively on Jan. 1.

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Tiny Community Has Tried For 20 Years To Force Southern California Edison To Fix Water System

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Janet Wilson

Retired firefighters Julie and Dale Hutchinson stepped out the back door of their Banning Heights home on a hot night last July. A column of smoke and flames towered over the ridge above their home — the Valley fire was advancing toward their tiny community. Their first thought wasn’t the wildfire, it was lack of water. For two decades, the Hutchinsons and their neighbors in this rural enclave tucked above the I-10 freeway have fought to have Southern California Edison repair a century-old system that carries water down the San Gorgonio mountains to their homes.

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Will Gavin Newsom Change The State’s Water Course? Fish And Farmers Will Soon Find Out

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

In the final weeks of Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, his appointees on a state board ordered some powerful water districts to cut their historic river diversions to protect endangered salmon populations. It was a major move by a panel that in the past has often been leery of flexing its regulatory muscles. But while the State Water Resources Control Board was demanding more water for fish, other Brown appointees were busy crafting deals that could ultimately mean less water for the environment. Despite a flurry of activity, Brown is leaving plenty of unfinished water business as he heads to his ranch in the Sacramento Valley.

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First Snow Survey Shows Water Content Just ‘Adequate.’ But There’s Hope For Improvement

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

A lot more snow will have to fall if California is to have enough water this year to fill reservoirs, nourish salmon, help crops flourish and moisten the fire-prone hills long enough to avoid another catastrophic conflagration, state officials said Thursday. California’s top snow surveyors, in the Sierra on Thursday with measuring poles and electronic sensor data, concluded that the state’s frozen water supply is just adequate, at best.

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2018 In San Diego: Mostly Dry And Warm; What Does 2019 Hold?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Robert Krier

San Diego’s weather in 2018 was almost uniformly warm and dry. Until late in the year, when it was neither. 2019 begins with its own personality: cool days and cold nights, with a couple of storms over the next week that should get the month off to a fairly wet start. Rain is expected to begin Saturday night and continue off and on through Sunday evening. Another storm should arrive Wednesday or Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. That’s quite a change from the bulk of 2018 — until December arrived.

 

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Weekend Storm Could Bring Up To A Half-Inch Of Rain To San Diego

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

A fast-moving storm could bring 0.25 inches to 0.50 inches of rain to San Diego this weekend, along with a dusting of snow to the county’s highest mountain peaks. The National Weather Service says the system will blow ashore late Saturday and could produce scattered rain before midnight. But the heaviest rain will fall overnight and into the morning hours. Inland valleys and foothills are more likely to receive between 0.50’’ inches and 1 inch of rain. The daytime highs will be on the cool side: 62 degrees on Saturday and Sunday.

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OPINION: Why Border Pollution Fix Requires Sewers, Not Suers

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Carlos A. De La Parra

Cross-border sewage flows in the Tijuana River reaching Imperial Beach are in the news and on the minds of concerned citizens of the region. Since pollution has been finding its way into the Tijuana River Valley for 40 years, it’s remarkable that it still manages to make the headlines. To be clear, I don’t condone it. I’m dismayed by sewage on a river (any river), its impact on water quality, as well as on public health. But that’s urban life in developing countries and emerging economies throughout the world.

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Kelley Scores 17-Month Consulting Deal With IID

/in , /by /Imperial Valley Pressby Richard Montenegro Brown

With the start of the new year came the start of a 17-month consulting service agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District board and its recently retired general manager, Kevin Kelley. The value of the contract, which is specifically for consultation between Kelley and the IID Board of Directors, not IID staff, is just under $396,000. It ends May 30, 2020, the same date Kelley’s employment contract as GM would have ended had he not retired, said IID board President Erik Ortega.

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Report Calls For Poway Water, Sewer Rate Hikes

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Steve Dreyer

A recommendation that water and sewer rates be increased starting in March will be discussed at a special City Council meeting next Tuesday night. City staff is recommending the water commodity (use) rate increase by 4.5 percent and the fixed water meter charge be increased by 7.5 percent. The staff report also recommends at 3.35 percent increase in the sewer commodity rate and a 3.25 percent hike in the sewer service charge.

 

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Why Overall Water Use Is Declining In US Despite Population Growth

/in , /by /Environmental Leader (Fort Collins, Colo.)by Jennifer Hermes

Water use efficiency was a hot topic among sustainability experts in 2018, as changing weather patterns, a US population increase of 4%, and aging water infrastructure continue to put a strain on our nation’s water supply. But for all the dire news about the negative impacts of climate change on weather patterns, water restrictions and storms that spilled wastewater into city streets, good news happened, as well. Cities and municipalities are moving forward with innovative water conservation efforts. El Paso, Texas, for example, is building an advanced purification system that will treat sewage water and turn it directly into drinking water.

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