Low-income residents may still access millions of dollars in federal assistance to help pay overdue residential water and wastewater bills, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Friday.
Millions of dollars in federal aid are still available for low-income water customers in San Diego County to cover overdue residential water and wastewater bills. The San Diego County Water Authority helped secure the federal funds — and the deadline for applications has been extended to March 31, 2024.
Colorado scientist Brad Udall spent hours digging — with frustration — through the federal government’s 700-page proposal for managing key dams and reservoirs in the Colorado River Basin over the next three years.
“I just wish they would really simply say, ‘And here’s how the system would perform under these really bad years we’ve seen over the last 23 (years),’” said Udall, senior water and climate research scientist at Colorado State University. “If they would do that, you would see that this system crashes.”
The future of California water storage reached a major milestone Thursday with the finalization for plans of the Sites Reservoir in Northern California. The reservoir would be the second largest off-stream reservoir in the nation and would increase Northern California’s water storage capacity by up to 15%, according to a press release from the Bureau of Reclamation. It will deliver water to beneficiaries primarily during dry periods or drought. The project area is about an hour north of Sacramento, situated between the Sacramento Valley to the east and the mountainous portion of the Coast Range on the west. It’s currently being used for livestock and cattle grazing.
The recent approval of the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project marks a significant improvement to California’s water storage capacity. This major project, greenlit as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, represents the first substantial water storage approval in California since 2011. The Department of the Interior, in collaboration with the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, has granted the nod to this crucial initiative, signaling a new era for water storage in the state.
Low-income residents may still access millions of dollars in federal assistance to help pay overdue residential water and wastewater bills, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Friday.
According to a news release, the application deadline for the Low-Income Water Assistance Program has been extended to March 31, 2024.
Congress established the program in 2021, and the federal government provided California with $116 million.
As of now, the state has $40 million available, with $5 million for San Diego County, Water Authority officials said.
North County residents in the Fallbrook Public Utilities and Rainbow Municipal Water districts will soon vote on the controversial separation of the two utility agencies from the San Diego County Water Authority.
Registered voters in the rural communities will be able to cast a ballot to approve the long-planned detachment from the region’s biggest water seller in a special election on Nov. 7.
It will be one of three happening across the county next week, including the elections to fill vacant seats on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and in Chula Vista.
As Arizona faces historical water consumption and continued drought, being able to treat wastewater to be reused has become an attractive option to maintain water security.
Thursday, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) released proposed plans on how to safely turn wastewater into reliable, purified water.
The plan introduces the Advanced Water Purification (AWP) Program, which ADEQ hopes will allow stakeholders and the public to better understand and establish clear communication throughout the process.
Hailing her as a champion for the environment and water recycling, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Thursday, Nov. 11, renamed the Pure Water Southern California demonstration plant after Rep. Grace Napolitano.
Napolitano, D-El Monte, who is retiring at the end of her term, was on hand for the dedication ceremony in Carson Thursday morning. The plant was officially renamed the Grace F. Napolitano Pure Water Southern California Innovation Center “for her unwavering dedication to water sustainability and reliability for all of Southern California,” according to a statement.
“What can be universally said about Congresswoman Napolitano is that she is the ultimate connector of people and creator of solutions,” MWD Board Chair Adán Ortega Jr. said. “Imagine her the needle and us the thread. She has banded us together to address our challenges — to clean up uranium tailings in Moab, Utah; to expand water recycling across the state; to increase water conservation in homes; and to develop water career training programs, ensuring we have the future workforce we need. This center for innovation in the science of water recycling can only have one name, and it is in honor of Congresswoman Grace Napolitano.”
Water quality data shows bacteria levels in the ocean along South Bay beaches have been hundreds of times over what’s considered safe for human health this past week. The culprit, per usual, is sewage flowing from Mexico into the Tijuana River which empties into the Pacific Ocean just south of San Diego’s southernmost cities. But the people who manage wastewater infrastructure in the U.S.-Mexico border say respite is nigh.
