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When the Carlsbad desalination plant opened in December 2015, regional water officials gushed about how reliable it would be. San Diego could now drink from the endless Pacific Ocean rather than be stuck depending on rain and snowmelt to come from hundreds of miles away. So far, though, the plant has not been as reliable as promised. Over the last year, the privately owned plant failed to deliver nearly a fifth of the water the San Diego County Water Authority ordered from it.

The heat wave hitting Southern California isn’t going away. The National Weather Service says the Southland will continue to swelter well into next week, bringing triple digit temperatures to inland valleys along with elevated fire danger and the potential for power outages. An excessive-heat warning will be in effect through Friday night, but the heat wave is likely to persist until the following Thursday, according to the weather service. Palmdale, Lancaster and Woodland Hills are facing the brunt of the heat: All three locations are forecast to stay in the triple digits through Labor Day.

Water officials in San Diego County have come out against a proposed state law that would impose a new monthly fee on all residential and commercial water users in California, to pay for programs that provide access to clean and safe drinking water in communities where water sources are contaminated. Opponents of the legislation have called the proposed fee a “water tax,” while supporters said it is “vitally needed” to deal with a state health crisis.