With the winter storm season ramping up, rainfall across the state has begun to refill reservoirs. By Tuesday, water reservoirs were at about 64% capacity, well above the 30-year average of 55% for the month of December. After last year’s historically wet winter, many of California’s largest water stores were at or near capacity during the summer months of 2023.
This summer, when the temperature hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit or above in Phoenix for 31 straight days, many were fretting about the Southwest’s prospects in the age of climate change. A writer for The Atlantic asked, “When Will the Southwest Become Unlivable?” Bloomberg wondered, “How Long Can We Keep Living in Hotboxes Like Phoenix?”
The city of San Diego is preparing to install a new underwater pipeline at its Miramar Reservoir as part of the Pure Water program, officials announced Thursday. “The subaqueous pipeline at Miramar Reservoir is a key construction project of the Pure Water program to help provide for our future water needs,” said Public Utilities Department Director Juan Guerreiro.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the West Coast’s largest estuary, an awe-inspiring area of wetlands with 700 miles of waterways and 1,100 miles of levees nestled between the San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley south of Sacramento. It’s one of the most magnificent places in California—a refuge of orchards, marinas, tin-roofed shacks, plantation homes and tiny historic towns that feels more Deep South than Golden State.
Waves as high as 20 feet are possible at some San Diego County beaches while a high surf and coastal flood advisory is in effect through early Monday morning, San Diego Fire-Rescue officials said Thursday.
San Diego markets itself as the land of endless warmth and sunshine. That seems like a goof as 2023 comes to an end. The city received only two hours of sunshine in the entire month of May. The temperature was below average for 11 straight months.
The final segment of the Pure Water pipeline is being installed underwater at the Miramar Reservoir. San Diego’s Pure Water project will supply half of the city’s drinking water by 2035. The city says this is the last segment of the pipeline that will carry purified water from the North City Pure Water Facility through eight miles of pipeline to the reservoir. Crews have already tunneled more than 1,000 feet and now work is underway to finish building the pipeline.
Three North San Diego County water districts have launched a combined effort to encourage residents to use rain barrels with a discount and rebate for their purchase Jan. 1 through Feb. 29.
San Diego County health officials released an updated water contact closure and advisory list Wednesday for county beaches.
Lawsuits accusing major chemical companies of polluting U.S. drinking water with toxic PFAS chemicals led to over $11 billion in settlements in 2023, with experts predicting that new federal regulations and a growing awareness of the breadth of PFAS contamination in the U.S. will spur more litigation and settlements in the year ahead.
