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Some North County Customers Pay Less for Water Than It’s Worth

/in /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

It’s a good deal if you can get it: Some North County water customers are paying less for their water than it’s worth.

The Vallecitos Water District – which provides water to 97,000 people in and around San Marcos – has kept rates so low it’s now selling water at a loss.

The shenanigans within the small district offer a window into the lengths some California water officials will go to avoid raising rates.

In Vallecitos, the low rates have become an issue in this fall’s water board elections.

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OPINION: Unity Needed For Statewide Water Solutions

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Mark Cowin Quoted: Mark Muir

San Diego County’s reliance on imported water is among the highest in California. Despite previous and planned local investments in desalination and recycling, most of this region’s water will continue to come from distant watersheds for decades to come as far as any water planner today can see. In fact, by 2040 the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) estimates 80 percent of their supply will be imported even with water efficiency savings and increased local supplies. Nearly half of that water will come from Metropolitan Water District which gets its supply from the Colorado River and Sierra Nevada.

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San Diego accelerates new water supply

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David GarrickDavid Garrick

San Diego’s landmark water recycling system took several key steps forward this week when the City Council approved an accelerated timeline and a comprehensive environmental analysis.

The council also approved $52 million in projects to kick start the program, and endorsed plans to use methane from the Miramar landfill as a power source for water purification, making the process more environmentally friendly.

Leaders from several communities in the region that share San Diego’s sewer system complained that accelerating the $3 billion program will unfairly increase sewer rates for them more quickly than expected.

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Water Talks: How California’s Drought Is Fueling Data Innovation

/in /by /Water Deeplyby Tara Lohan

There’s a lot of talk right now in California about water data. Do we have enough of it? Are we doing the right things with the information that we do have? And how are we sharing and using that data? Our first edition of “Water Talks,” a new, monthly conversation around hot topics in California water, centered on those crucial questions.

 

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Statewide Water Conservation Drops Below 18 Percent in August

/in /by /Sierra Madre Weekly

The State Water Resources Control Board today announced that urban Californians’ monthly water conservation declined to 17.7 percent in August, down from 27 percent savings in August 2015, raising concerns that some water suppliers are abandoning their focus on conservation as California heads into a possible sixth drought year.

Californians continue to conserve water in significant amounts even in the absence of state-mandated conservation targets. The cumulative average savings from June 2015 through August was 23.3 percent, compared with the same months in 2013.

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It’s Sacramento’s 12th wettest October – and we’re not done

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

A surprisingly wet October continues to bring gentle rains to the Sacramento region, providing some relief to watersheds parched by five years of drought.

But as scattered showers hit the region Thursday, forecasters and hydrologists said the promising start to the rainy season, while helpful, doesn’t necessarily mean the drought will end this winter.

This October is the 12th wettest in Sacramento in the 139 years tracked by the National Weather Service. As much as 2 more inches of rain might fall before the month is over.

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An early look at what kind of weather California might see this winter

/in /by /The Washington Postby Angela Fritz

Though water restrictions have loosened and people say they are feeling better about reservoir levels, California is still in a long-term drought. More than 20 percent of the state — mainly in the southern half — is still in exceptional drought, which is the worst drought category on the scale. Over 40 percent is in extreme drought.

Drought-busting hope always lurks as we approach winter, and this year is no different. How much rain will California get? Is it going to be more lucky than last winter?

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Rain expected to hit SoCal Thursday evening

/in /by /KABC-TV

A storm system from the north is expected to make its way through Southern California Thursday night and into Friday morning, bringing with it rain and the potential for flash floods and mudslides.

A flash flood watch has been issued for most of Southern California until noon on Friday. Los Angeles and Orange counties will have mostly cloudy skies with the chance of late-night rain Thursday as highs reach 80 degrees. The bulk of the rain is expected to fall Friday morning.

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California and National Drought Summary for October 25, 2016

/in /by /Sierra Sun Times

October 27, 2016 – This U.S. Drought Monitor week saw deterioration in drought conditions across the South and Southeast in an area extending from South Carolina westward to eastern Texas and northward into Tennessee. In the Southeast, a persistent dry weather pattern during the past 60 days continues to negatively impact the agricultural sector as well as hydrologic and soil moisture conditions across much of the region.

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Rain expected to return to California beginning Thursday

/in /by /San Mateo Daily Journal

Rainy weather was expected to return to the San Francisco Bay Area after a storm system dropped a little rain earlier this week.

The cold front was then expected to make its way to Southern California late Thursday and early Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Rainfall totals ranging from a half-inch to 1.5 inches were expected across parts of Northern California.

“The mountains will see upward of 2 inches of rain,” forecaster Steve Anderson said. Along the Central Coast, the weather service issued a flash flood watch for a burn area from Thursday afternoon into Friday morning.

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