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Water Authority Lays Out Colorado River Plan to Protect Lake Mead, Lake Powell

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journalby Colton Lochhead

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has a plan for how the seven states that rely on the Colorado River can protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell. But whether the other six states have any interest in backing that plan remains to be seen. The water authority on Tuesday outlined how it thinks the Colorado River basin states and the federal government can drastically cut back on water use along the dwindling Colorado next year in order to keep water levels at its two major reservoirs from crashing further and threatening putting their ability to deliver water downstream and generate hydropower.

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Ramona Water District Considers Waiving Fees for Granny Flats

/in , , /by /Ramona Sentinelby Julie Gallant

Ramona Municipal Water District directors next month will discuss a proposal to waive water and sewer service fees for accessory dwelling units built at the same time as a single-family home. Directors reviewed fees for small accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs or granny flats, at their Dec. 13 meeting. But instead of approving the proposal, they asked staff to research how other water districts manage the fees for those types of buildings.

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Opinion: It’s Time for the Feds to Pull Rank and Enforce Already Agreed Water Cuts

/in , , /by /The Arizona Republicby Bruce Babbitt

The speeches at the Colorado River summit in Las Vegas last week ranged all the way from pessimistic to panicked. Ted Cooke, the outgoing director of the Central Arizona Project, summed it up: “(T)here’s a real possibility of an effective dead pool“ at Lake Mead, making it impossible to release water through Hoover Dam for downstream delivery to Arizona and California.

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Army Corps Study of Salton Sea Could Yield Billions for Long-Term Restoration

/in , , /by /The Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to review both short-term and long-term options for restoring the Salton Sea, which could ultimately net billions for major public works to restore the crashing ecosystem of California’s largest water body. First up, the federal agency will, by March 1 of next year, complete streamlined federal environmental reviews of projects that are part of the state Salton Sea Management Program’s 10-year plan that is supposed to be completed by 2028, including some that are underway.

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Why is the Colorado River Drying Up?

/in , /by /Newsweekby Robyn White

The Colorado River’s water levels are the lowest they have been in a century. Scientists fear the reservoirs the river feeds into could reach deadpool level in the next few years. That would mean the water level would be too low to flow downstream from a dam or to drive turbines to generate power. And these reservoirs are integral for surrounding water supply.

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Amid Climate Change, a Question: What’s the Future of California Rice?

/in , /by /Capitol Weeklyby Aaron Gilbreath

After absorbing sunshine all summer, mature rice plants in California’s Sacramento Valley stand as high as three feet tall, in five inches of flood water. Planted in spring, farmers drain their fields in August, and they drive big, loud harvesters into them in September, gently separating the rice stalks from the grain, and blowing the harvest into bankout wagons that they tow beside them.

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Ducey’s Desalination Plan Clears First Hurdle

/in , /by /Arizona Capitol Timesby Wayne Schutsky

A plan pushed by Gov. Doug Ducey to use desalinated seawater to address Arizona’s water woes crossed a major hurdle today. Despite transparency concerns from lawmakers, the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority board unanimously approved a resolution today directing the board chairman and staff to begin discussions with IDE Technologies, an Israeli company planning to build a desalination plant on the Sea of Cortez in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico.

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SDG&E Breaks Ground for ‘Microgrid’ in Clairemont to Maximize Renewal Energy

/in , /by /Times of San Diego by City News Service

San Diego Gas & Electric broke ground on the Clairemont microgrid Tuesday, one of four projects the utility has planned at its existing substations.

Once finished, the Clairemont microgrid will be able to provide backup power to San Diego Fire Station 36, the Balboa Branch Library and local schools such as Lafayette Elementary, Sequoia Elementary, Innovation and CPMA Middle Schools and Madison High School.

Microgrids are small-scale grids that can operate independent of or parallel to the larger regional grid to keep critical facilities powered during unexpected outages.

Each microgrid project is paired with energy storage, with the four projects bringing an additional 39 megawatts of battery capacity to the region. SDG&E currently has 95 MW of utility-owned energy storage online, with another 200+ MW in development.

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Upgrade Costs for Carlsbad Desalination Plant Will Be Passed Along to San Diego Ratepayers

/in , /by /KPBS Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Water bills in San Diego are about to go up, and that increase is due in part to planned upgrades at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Those upgrades are estimated to cost $274 million. The San Diego County Water Authority approved the upgrades to the plant’s seawater intakes at a board meeting on Thursday.

“This action by the board moves the Carlsbad Desalination Plant one step closer to meeting state marine life mandates,” said Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz. “Staff has worked diligently to ensure that the costs are as low as possible while continuing to provide our region with a drought-proof source of water. We are thankful to have this resource when so much of the West is suffering from extreme drought, and we expect it will be increasingly valuable as climate change further disrupts California’s hydrology.”

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Water Industry Workers Support Holiday Giving Programs

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Holiday giving programs are a tradition among the San Diego region’s water and wastewater agencies. As in previous years, in 2022, employees pitched in to help a wide array of nonprofit community services.

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