A malfunction at a wastewater pumping station spilled 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into San Diego Bay, authorities said.
More than six miles of shoreline were closed or posted with warning signs after the spill Monday afternoon sent untreated wastewater flowing out of manholes and into storm drains downtown and in the Midway area instead of going to a treatment plant, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.
Fast action by the San Diego County Water Authority and its partners is helping maintain water service in Tijuana after problems with the city’s aqueduct emerged in December.
Emergency water deliveries started last week after a coordinated effort between the Water Authority, Otay Water District, and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). The typical multi-month approval process was compressed into a few days to avoid additional water supply shortages in Tijuana.
Many years ago, scientists predicted climate change would result in more intense weather swings, the likes of which California is currently experiencing: extended stretches of drought interrupted by periods of hard rains.
Now as before, people raise the same question when atmospheric rivers hit and massive storm runoff flows into the ocean: Why can’t we capture more of that and store it for the dry seasons?
Torrential rain across California in recent weeks has caused plenty of misery, but it could also generate some good news on the energy front: If rain and snow totals hold up, all the precipitation will boost hydroelectric production — and that would help the Golden State’s electric grid, especially in the summertime when the system comes under strain.
“Based on the reservoir levels and what we’re seeing this year, we expect to have more hydroelectricity generated this year than we have for the last several years,” said Lindsay Buckley, director of communications at the California Energy Commission.
Across the sun-cooked flatlands of the Imperial Valley, water flows with uncanny abundance. The valley, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, is naturally a desert. Yet canals here are filled with water, lush alfalfa grows from sodden soil and rows of vegetables stretch for miles.
Within this grid of greenery, near the desert town of Brawley, Mark McBroom grows 6,000 acres of hay crops, like alfalfa, and fruit orchards, all irrigated by water imported from the Colorado River.
San Diego’s recent rainstorms was a much-needed boost to 24 reservoirs around the county.
“We talk about often as pennies from the sky and yesterday was millions from the sky,” smiled Carlos Quintero, the General Manager for the Sweetwater Authority.
Quintero said the Sweetwater Reservoir in Spring Valley collected about 1,700 acre-feet of water on Monday alone.
The storms that have been battering California offer a glimpse of the catastrophic floods that scientists warn will come in the future and that the state is unprepared to endure.
Giant floods like those that inundated the Central Valley in 1861 and 1862 are part of California’s natural cycle, but the latest science shows that the coming megafloods, intensified by climate change, will be much bigger and more destructive than anything the state or the country has ever seen.
Without a doubt, weeks of rain and snow since late December are absolutely helping with California’s water supply.
But how much help exactly is a question many have been asking. KCRA 3 Chief Meteorologist Mark Finan goes over where water reservoirs in Northern California stand. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot of good news.
A pier in Santa Cruz split in half. Extensive flooding in Soquel Village, Capitola and Planada. Vital bridges badly battered or closed. More than 500 reported mudslides across California in the last few weeks, including some that damaged homes and cars in L.A. hillside communities.
The atmospheric river storms that pummeled California for weeks inflicted “extensive” damage to as many as 40 of the state’s 58 counties, and total repairs could reach as much as $1 billion, according to authorities.
After the driest three years in the state’s modern history, California suddenly has a different problem on its hands: too much water.
An ongoing series of storms drenching the state has forced officials to take measures unfathomable just a month ago, like releasing excess water from reservoirs and pumping surging river flows into storage.
