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LAFCO Votes to Table FPUD/RMWD Detachment

/in , /by /Village News Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Just before 4 p.m. on June 5, the San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted 5 to 3 to table the vote on the FPUD/RMWD detachment from San Diego Water Authority until their Aug. 7, 2023 meeting.

County Supervisor and LAFCO Director Jim Desmond made a motion for an “option 2” for detachment. Director Willis seconded the motion and then Director Jo Mackenzie asked for a 5-minute break. Upon returning, Director Joel Anderson motioned for the vote to be tabled for 60 days.

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Padre Dam Board Tells CWA It Can’t Accept Any Water Rate Increase

/in , /by /East County Magazineby Mike Allen Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Padre Dam Water District’s board is fed up with having to pay higher rates for the water it purchases from the San Diego County Water Authority, and voted unanimously not to go along with any rate hike unless the CWA gets serious about its long-range planning.

The five-member board took the vote after listening to a presentation by CEO Kyle Swanson (photo, right)about CWA raising the wholesale rate charged to member water agencies next year by a range between 8.2 to 12.7 percent. At one point, CWA was considering increasing to about 13 percent, but the range is ever-changing and unknowable at the current time, Swanson said.

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Here Comes El Niño: It’s Early, Likely to be Big, Sloppy and Add Even More Heat to a Warming World

/in , , /by /Associated Pressby Seth Borenstein and Isabella O'Malley

An early bird El Niño has officially formed, likely to be strong, warp weather worldwide and give an already warming Earth an extra kick of natural heat, meteorologists announced.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday issued an El Niño advisory, announcing the arrival of the climatic condition. It may not quite be like the others.

 

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Water Awareness Artwork Wins Escondido 2023 Student Poster Contest

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Twelve students have won the 2023 City of Escondido Student Poster Contest by illustrating the theme, “Love Water, Save Water.”

Winners have the opportunity to have their work featured in a regional North San Diego County water agencies calendar. First, second, and third-place winners will be featured in next year’s regional calendar.

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Ahead of New Colorado River Talks, Governments and Tribes Weigh in On the Future

/in , , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

Hot on the heels of a short-term agreement to cut back on Colorado River water use, states are looking ahead to talks about more permanent cuts. The Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency which manages the West’s water, announced that those negotiations will formally begin next week with a notice in the Federal Register.

The announcement came at an environmental law conference in Boulder, Colorado on Thursday, where scientists, state and federal governments, and tribes met at the University of Colorado’s law school.

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These Southern California Water Projects Received Millions in Grant Funding to Combat Drought, Floods

/in , , /by /KTLA 5by Travis Schlepp

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Thursday that 44 statewide drought and flood projects will receive millions of dollars in Department of Water Resources grants.

In total, $217 million will be directed to increase water supply, combat flooding, and expand new water storage and conservation initiatives. An additional $71 million will be used to respond to local drought impacts.

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Commissioners Discuss Hikes to Long Beach Water Rates; Vote Expected June 22

/in , , /by /Long Beach Postby Jason Ruiz

Long Beach Utilities commissioners met again Thursday to discuss a potential rate hike for water, which could be as high as 10% next year as the department deals with declining sales due to customer conservation, increasing costs and an expanding capital investment plan that could, in the long term, increase the city’s supply of less expensive groundwater.

A staff-recommended hike of 10% for water rates next year would amount to a $5.69 monthly increase for the average customer, according to the department. However, an alternate increase of 9% that was requested at the commission’s last meeting would add about $5.13 to the monthly bill.

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US-German Satellites Show California Water Gains After Record Winter

/in , , /by /Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technologyby Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang

Early data shows the greatest net gain of water over the winter in nearly 22 years, but the state’s groundwater levels still suffer from the effects of years of drought.

After years of intense drought and diminishing groundwater, California just saw its greatest year-over-year water gains in two decades, according to data from the GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On) satellite mission, a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). This past winter’s bonanza of atmospheric rivers alleviated some of the water deficit that the state incurred during periods of drought over the last 10 years, which included the three driest years on record in California.

Imperial Beach Seeks Federal Assistance in Ceasing Ongoing Pollution from Tijuana River Sewage Spill

/in , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Karla Rendon

Imperial Beach urgently needs federal funding to put an end to the Tijuana River’s ongoing sewage spill that’s kept portions of the city’s beaches closed, Mayor Paloma Aguirre wrote in a letter to the White House.

Seeking a federal state of emergency status for the continued pollution, Mayor Aguirre called on the Biden administration to declare the emergency for the shoreline of Imperial Beach and the Tijuana River Valley. Such a proclamation would expedite funding and projects across federal agencies to tackle the source of the issue.

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As Salton Sea Shrinks, Potential for Earthquakes Reduced, New Study Finds

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie Sklar

The shrinking and drying out of the Salton Sea has reduced stress on the San Andreas Fault, possibly reducing the frequency and severity of earthquakes in Southern California, according to research from San Diego State University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, found that the reduced stress on the fault from a significantly lesser amount of water may be delaying the next “big one.”

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