You are now in Media Coverage San Diego County category.

Imperial Irrigation District GM Steps Down Amid Unsettled Fight Over Water Rights

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

Imperial Irrigation District general manager Kevin Kelley will retire at year’s end, capping an often tumultuous and challenging eight years at the helm. Kelley, 60, submitted a letter to the board of directors in a closed session on Monday, and his offer was accepted. “This has actually been in the works for some time,” said Kelley in an interview with The Desert Sun. “I think at this point IID could benefit from fresh thinking and new ideas, and by someone who hasn’t been doing this for eight years.”

Full Story

San Diego Reaches Agreement With Nonprofits To Improve Stormwater Infrastructure

/in , /by /10 News

The city of San Diego has reached an agreement with two local nonprofit organizations to improve its stormwater infrastructure and local water quality, it was announced today. Under the agreement, the city pledged to improve its stormwater management sites at the Miramar Landfill, Metro Biosolids Center, North City Reclamation Plant, Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant and South Bay Water Reclamation Plant. San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation will concurrently contribute $35,000 to the San Diego Audubon Society to be used for water quality improvement and habitat conservation in Mission Bay.

Full Story

Could This Gel Help Tame The California Fires?

/in , /by /Bloomberg

In 2009, Jeff Denholm was making a living as an adventure athlete, competing in stand-up paddleboard races and riding giant waves at Mavericks, the famous surf break near his home in Santa Cruz, Calif. Denholm was sponsored by Patagonia Inc., but to generate extra cash—“Adventure athletes don’t make a ton of money,” he says—he had a side gig leasing a fire truck to state and county crews that had run out of equipment ­battling wildfires.

Full Story

A Legal Battle In The Coachella Valley Could Transform How California—And The Nation—Uses Water

/in , /by /Pacific Standard (Santa Barbara)by Sophie Yeo

In a legal battle between a Californian tribe and the state’s water agencies, experts are seeing a turning point in the history of United States water rights, potentially affecting how water is controlled across the entire country. In November of last year, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case that the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, concerned about the effects of climate change and the quality of the water in the aquifer, brought against the Coachella Valley Water District and the Desert Water Agency. This Supreme Court decision left standing a Ninth Circuit ruling, which established—for the first time—the principle that tribes have priority over their reservations’ groundwater.

Full Story

Quick Solution Keeps Pipeline Repairs On Track

/in , /by /Water News Network

When Water Authority crews began dewatering part of the region’s pipeline system for a 10-day shutdown in mid-November, they discovered a leaking valve that threatened to disrupt the time-sensitive operation. At issue was a six-foot diameter valve in the Second Aqueduct that was designed to isolate a section of pipeline so workers could safely make repairs inside a dry section of the massive pipe. Instead, the valve was seeping water, which made it impossible to start the welding work slated for the relining project in Bonsall and Fallbrook.

Full Story

Defeat Of Water Bond Imperils Desert Community Of Borrego Springs

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones

It’s back to square one for the desert community of Borrego Springs, which is facing the daunting task of reducing its consumption of water by at least 75 percent in the coming decades. Mostly lost in the hubbub surrounding the Nov. 6 election was the defeat of Proposition 3, an $8.8 billion state water bond. Had it passed, Borrego Springs would have received $35 million to fallow most of the 3,800 acres of citrus and other farms in the northern part of the community.

Full Story

Bigger Wildfires. Worsening Droughts. More Disease. How Climate Change Is Battering California

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times

Analyses estimated that the area burned by wildfire across the western United States from 1984 to 2015 was twice what would have burned had climate change not occurred. Wildfires around Los Angeles from 1990 to 2009 caused $3.1 billion in damages (unadjusted for inflation). Tree death in mid-elevation conifer forests doubled from 1955 to 2007 due, in part, to climate change. Allowing naturally ignited fires to burn in wilderness areas and preemptively setting low-severity prescribed burns in areas of unnatural fuel accumulations can reduce the risk of high-severity fires under climate change. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally can also reduce ecological vulnerabilities.

Full Story

HOA Homefront: Saving Our Lawns Or Saving Our Artificial Turf?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Kelly G. Richardson

Our board has indicated that they plan to remove all turf from the front yards of our community and replace it with various types of non-turf plants. The vast majority of homeowners oppose such a plan. Can a board make a decision of this nature and magnitude without homeowner approval? Their decision would make a highly significant change to the appearance of our community.

Full Story

Delta Tunnels Opponents Score A Victory

/in , /by /The Press (Brentwood)by Tony Kukulich

In the bitter battle over the future of the California WaterFix Project, opponents recently scored a victory in their effort to stop the construction of Delta Tunnels. The development occurred when the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) staff issued a preliminary finding stating that WaterFix, as it exists today, is inconsistent with the Delta Plan. Without a certificate of consistency, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) cannot move WaterFix forward.

Full Story

OPINION: L.A. Wasn’t Built In The Desert, But The Desert May Be Coming To Us

/in , /by /Los Angeles Times

It’s hard out there for an environmentally responsible but thirsty Angeleno — someone who wants to grow a couple organic tomatoes in the backyard, take more than an occasional shower and still have enough money to repair the rain barrel after paying the various water bills, fees and taxes. Measure W, which voters passed on Nov. 6, will help. But it won’t put an end to our water problems.

Full Story