After one of the Colorado River’s driest years in decades, Lake Mead and Lake Powell — the largest reservoirs in the country — could see alarming declines in the coming years, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced today.
Federal officials again called for Arizona and Nevada to cut back their supplies from the overtapped river — though California, with its senior claims to the river’s water, will be spared.
A new California bill would help ensure that our drinking water is safe. The legislation is important — and unusual in its approach.
Senate Bill 466, authored by Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, would shield water agencies from civil suits. The temporary legal immunity would protect them from lawsuits over chromium-6 contamination as they work to remove the cancer-causing chemical from drinking water supplies.
San Diego is backing away from plans to rebuild the Lake Hodges Dam, thanks to ballooning cost estimates and the county water authority announcing it’s no longer willing to pay half the cost.
The state declared the dam unsafe two years ago, demanded the water level be lowered because of flood risk and ordered San Diego to accelerate efforts to rebuild the 106-year-old dam.
San Diego’s inflation rate was 4% in July — fueled primarily by rising prices for food, medical care and cars — making it highest in the nation.
Inflation has typically run hotter in San Diego than much of the U.S. because of high housing and gasoline costs. Yet the past few reports, which are released every two months for metro areas, have made it hard to pin rising costs on any one thing — most sectors have seen increases.
Experts remain hesitant to pin the blame on tariffs yet, focusing more on labor issues, housing costs and other usual culprits. Still, San Diego clearly stands out from other metropolitan areas.
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego residents may soon see higher water bills as the city proposes rate increases to cover rising costs and infrastructure needs.
According to a handout sent to residents served by the nonprofit Public Utility Company, increases could be as much as $15-17 per family household, compounded over the next four years. In other words, an average family’s water bill in San Diego could be up to $60 more per month by 2029.
In North America we are looking into a future of uncertainty regarding long term safety of our water supply. A lot of factors contribute to this development, but one is more apparent now than ever.
Our water infrastructure — pipes beneath our feet, ageing treatment plants and critical flood protections — is easy to take for granted. But there is a problem brewing and it is not regarding the water infrastructure alone. The true crisis is emerging not in concrete and steel, but in the ranks of skilled engineers and technicians needed to build and keep these systems working. North America is entering a workforce crisis. Which begs the question – who will maintain our water infrastructure in 2035 and beyond?
City of San Diego residents are experiencing unexpected increases in their water bills, with some reporting jumps well over a hundred dollars.
The surge comes months before the city’s proposed water rate hikes are set to take effect in January, leaving many wondering about the cause of these sudden spikes.
Nearly 240,000 residents in parts of southeastern San Diego County will soon see higher water bills. The Otay Water District notified customers that it will implement an 8.3% rate increase effective Jan. 1, saying the “unavoidable” hike is mostly due to charges passed down from its wholesale water suppliers: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the county Water Authority.
Even more increases could be coming as the Otay Water District prepares to approve new sewer service rates later this year.
California’s water system, constructed in partnership with the federal government, was built on a predictable weather cycle every calendar year. Throughout the winter, snow piles in the Sierra before it melts in late spring and flows throughout the state just when farms need it most. For decades, this cycle, paired with our world-class water infrastructure, allowed for reliable water deliveries, captured excess flows in reservoirs and efficiently moved supply to refill our groundwater tables. But that rhythm is slowly changing. State climate indicators show the Sacramento River’s peak runoff now arrives nearly a month earlier — in March instead of April — compared with the mid-20th-century record. Looking ahead, the Department of Water Resources projects the Sierra’s April 1st snowpack will shrink by roughly half to two-thirds before the end of the century.
Over the last century, Southern California has grown and thrived by accessing water from faraway sources including the Colorado River, the Eastern Sierra’s streams and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Massive aqueducts transport water through deserts, farmlands and mountains to sustain 19 million people across six counties.
But these traditional sources of water are projected to become less reliable as global warming shrinks the West’s mountain snowpack and unleashes more intense droughts.
