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Assemblymember Chris Holden’s Water Efficient Landscaping Bill, AB 2525, passed the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee with a 9-3 vote. AB 2525 creates the California Water Efficient Landscaping (WEL) Program that encourages Californians to upgrade their landscape and irrigation equipment for more efficient ones. It also prioritizes participation of families that qualify for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

The San Diego County Water Authority will have $8.9 million in legal fees paid following its successful lawsuit against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California over water rates.

The Los Angeles-based MWD now owes the San Diego authority more than $243 million, including damages, costs, interest and attorneys’ fees. “We are pleased that almost all of the attorneys’ fees and court costs incurred by the water authority to defend our water ratepayers will be recovered,” said Mark Weston, chair of the authority’s board of directors.

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation recently completed a major reduction in overall water usage through an aggressive conservation program, said Tribal Chairman Cody Martinez.

The program includes retrofitting irrigation equipment, removing and replacing water-dependent landscaping and increasing community awareness around the importance of water conservation. The program has reduced the Tribe’s reliance on groundwater at the golf course and resort by 25 percent, Martinez said. It has also allowed it to cut water use on properties within the Padre Dam and Otay municipal water districts by an average of 22 percent, he said.