Bills in the state Legislature would give increased authority to the California State Water Resources Control Board and could impact historic water rights and threaten water supplies for farming. Dangerous water rights reform bills that put the interests of the few over the interests of the many are moving through the California Legislature.
A stretch of unusually wet months has erased drought across much of the Southwest. A briefing by climate experts spelled out how a snowy winter and rainy spring brought relief to a particularly parched region.
“Unlike some past presentations I’ve given for the Southwest,” said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, “This one actually has some good news in it.”
Escondido homeowners Marcus and Leanne F. decided it was time for a landscape makeover two years ago when their effort to keep their lawn green required a lot of water. But they didn’t know where to start, lacking experience with landscape design and working with a limited budget.
The couple started from the beginning, and the result was a waterwise landscape selected as the City of Escondido’s 2023 Landscape Makeover Contest winner.
Long Beach water customers will likely see their bills increase this year.
This comes after the Utilities Commission approved a 9% increase for water usage Monday.
The increase would add just over $5 to the average single-family household’s bill starting Oct. 1.
A public hearing on the rates is tentatively scheduled for August.
It’s gone by several names: Peripheral Canal, Water Fix and Delta Conveyance.
Its design has changed several times, from a canal to twin tunnels and most recently a single tunnel.
However, its purpose has been unchanged for seven decades – bypassing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as water is moved from Northern California to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California homes.
San Diego County supervisors unanimously approved a proclamation Tuesday declaring a state of emergency due to pollution and sewage flowing across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Board Chairwoman Nora Vargas and Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer introduced the proclamation, which asks Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden to issue similar declarations, “suspend red tape that may hinder response efforts, and expedite access to federal resources for San Diego County.”
On Tuesday, June 27, the California Legislature passed the 2023/24 state budget, which included critical investments in projects around the Imperial Valley.
According to a press release from the Office of Sen. Steve Padilla, Senator Padilla, whose district includes all of Imperial County, worked with legislative leaders to secure these investments in the Valley’s future. These projects will spur new investments in lithium separation and battery production, pave roads to help residents to travel around rural communities safely, improve water quality in heavy agricultural-use regions of the state, and assist communities delivering humanitarian aid to asylum seekers, according to the release.
California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed on a $310.8 billion budget deal Monday, a compromise reached by dropping the governor’s proposal to move forward with a 45-mile Delta water tunnel that would pump water from the Sacramento River to other parts of the state.
Legislators released a series of bills Saturday and Sunday showing the broad outlines of a spending plan that includes more money for public transit, child care, prison reform and Medi-Cal. The measures also reflected the challenges of closing the state’s estimated $31.5 billion budget gap.
By taking a watershed approach to his landscape redesign, homeowner Brad Lefkowits won the Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s 2023 Landscape Makeover Contest. The WaterSmart Landscape Contest is held annually by water agencies throughout San Diego County.
The Santa Fe Irrigation District commemorated its 100-year anniversary at a “Century of Service” celebration on June 21 with community leaders and neighbors.
The district was established in 1923 as a California Special District under the Irrigation District Act of 1887 and currently provides drinking and recycled water services for more than 19,800 residents in the City of Solana Beach, as well as the unincorporated communities of Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch.
