You are now in Media Coverage San Diego County category.

City, SDG&E In $120 million Disagreement

San Diego Gas and Electric and the city of San Diego are in a disagreement that could be worth up to $120 million. The controversy is over San Diego’s Pure Water project, which would turn sewage into high treated drinking water. The city’s goal is to have a third of its water supply be reclaimed water by 2035.  To accomplish that, the city plans to build a $1 billion pipeline to pump sewage from the Morena area to the North City Water Reclamation Plant on the edge of Miramar.

Water In California

The federal government and the state of California seem to love suing each other, and have done so dozens of times in the past two years without causing anyone much damage. But President Donald Trump is now threatening to sue the state over control of water. This could harm a lot of people, because water is the source of the most contentious and enduring battles in America’s largest state.

Major Colorado River Water User Floats Arizona Drought Plan

A major Colorado River water user has proposed an interim plan for Arizona as the state faces looming a looming deadline to manage expected shortages. The Central Arizona Project board said its proposal could jumpstart talks after previous ones failed to gain consensus among water users. The agency wants to draw up to 400,000 acre-feet of water it stored in Lake Mead and 50,000 acre-feet in Lake Pleasant, and implement a $60 million conservation program to lessen the burden of shortages on mainly farmers and developers. Another program would help improve groundwater systems but doesn’t have a price tag.

California Tunnels Project Circling The Drain After Elections

This month’s elections may have mortally wounded California’s chances for a long-delayed $23 billion water tunnel project. The so-called Delta Tunnels project would allow the Golden State to more efficiently transfer up to 1.6 trillion gallons of water every year from the northern part of the state to the south. The project’s biggest cheerleader, Gov. Jerry Brown (D), is leaving office because of term limits and his successor, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), lacks’ Brown’s enthusiasm for the tunnels.

El Nino Holds Weather Uncertainty For California

Forecasters are confident that weak El Nino atmospheric conditions will set in as the winter progresses, and in California, that can mean anything. While El Nino conditions are known for producing wet, warm storms from the south, state and National Weather Service forecasters say there’s an equal chance of below-normal, normal or above-normal precipitation in California this winter.

First Rain In Over A Month? Chances Increase As Firefighters Grow Desperate

Everyone’s rain dances are working. The Thanksgiving week weather forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area looks more likely for the first precipitation in a month, as California is ravaged by the deadliest wildfire in state history, raging through bone-dry foothills, and sending unhealthy pollution through the most populated regions.

Environmental Review Of Water Wells Goes Before California High Court

The California Supreme Court will weigh in on whether environmental review is required for each new water well project. The issue of groundwater extraction heightened during California’s prolonged drought. All six justices during their weekly meeting Nov. 14 voted to review an appellate decision involving Stanislaus County.

San Diego Has The Ingredients For An Explosive Fire

Fire weather arrived in San Diego this weekend, traveling southward from Butte County via Ventura and Los Angeles. Its journey here gave us snapshots of a grim new reality: the unbelievable speed and scale of California wildfires. A line of burned-out cars in the Sierra foothill town of Paradise, and social media accounts of desperate attempts to outrun the Camp Fire. Four one-way lanes on the Pacific Coast Highway during a mass evacuation of Malibu to escape the Woolsey Fire.

 

OPINION: Wildfires Underline Need To Diversify California’s Water Supply

Fast burning fires, aided by strong, east winds and low humidity, devastated the Butte County community of Paradise over the last week and sent hazardous smoke over the San Francisco Bay area. It’s a tragedy that’s becoming too frequent. Climate change is scorching California. It’s critical for water agencies to adapt to this hotter and drier future. Throughout the state, municipalities are diversifying their supplies by recycling wastewater into drinkable water.

 

Study: Absent Major Changes, New Groundwater Rules Will Cost Kern 24,000 Jobs

Absent major changes to farming practices and an increase in water supply, Kern County’s farming juggernaut will have to shrink considerably to meet aggressive new targets for conservation. A study commissioned by the Kern Groundwater Authority suggests tremendous job losses are a possibility as water district managers and farmers work toward compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.