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City Staff Deflect Blame Away From Pure Water Before San Diego’s Big Water Rate Vote

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

As the San Diego City Council prepares to make major water rate hikes, city staff clearly want weary councilmembers to blame the San Diego County Water Authority and not the wastewater recycling project the city is building.

Tuesday the City Council will vote on a 63 percent water rate hike and 31 percent wastewater rate increase over the next four years. City Hall is abuzz with chatter that there may not be enough votes to pass the rate increases, which could set in motion an unpredictable series of events. The city pays the Water Authority about $30 million per month for water. The Water Authority’s bills to the city will come due no matter what. But if elected leaders refuse to raise rates, San Diego’s utilities department can’t collect the money it needs to function.

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Why It Matters: What to Expect When San Diego Votes on Raising Water Rates

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Scott Lewis

The San Diego City Council is set to vote next week on a series of water rate increases that could raise the average household bill by about $18 per month. Rates would then continue climbing by roughly the same amount each year for the next three years.

That’s a 63% increase over four years. But City Council President Joe LaCava said support for the plan might be slipping.

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Metropolitan Navigates Choppy Waters

/in , /by /Politicoby Camille Von Kaenel

California’s largest drinking water supplier is trying to turn the page.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports and sells water to 19 million people in Los Angeles and the surroundings, earlier this month zeroed in on Shivaji Deshmukh, the current general manager of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, to replace retiring General Manager Deven Upadhyay, according to three people with knowledge whom POLITICO granted anonymity to discuss ongoing internal deliberations.

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San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Joins Metropolitan Board as Director

/in , /by /The Metropolitan Water District Of Southern California Mentioned: Dan Denham

San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Dan Denham was seated today as the Water Authority’s newest representative on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Denham brings more than two decades of water industry expertise, as well as a deep knowledge of the relationship between Metropolitan and the Water Authority. He succeeds Gail Goldberg, who served on Metropolitan’s 38-member board since 2019.

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California Department of Water Resources New Desalination Facility Is a Major Milestone for Drought-Smart Infrastructure Solutions in the Delta

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

Following several years of planning and investment, the City of Antioch has reached a climate-resilient milestone: a new brackish water desalination facility near its existing water treatment plant.

The facility, supported by $10 million in Proposition 1 desalination grant funding from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and a $60 million low-interest loan from the California Water Boards’ Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, will produce up to 6 million gallons per day of treated drinking water —an important boost to regional supply reliability amid rising salinity in the San Joaquin River.

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Amid a Data Center Boom, California Lawmakers Pass a Bill to Track Water Use

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Companies that run data centers are facing increasing scrutiny for guzzling water in the dry western U.S. as artificial intelligence fuels a boom in the industry.

California legislators passed a bill this month that would require the facilities to report their projected water use before they begin operating and thereafter certify how much they use annually. The bill is now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

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San Diegans Owe a Desal Company $35 million for Unmade Water

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

San Diegans owe a privately-owned desalination plant over $35 million for water the company couldn’t make.

That water will only grow more expensive the longer the San Diego County Water Authority waits to buy it. And the tab came due as the region frets over ever-growing water prices and debates whether it even needs this water at all.

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Metropolitan Water District’s Billion Dollar Property Tax

/in , /by /City Watch LAby Jack Humphreville

The politically appointed Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is proposing to increase its Special Property Tax by 71% over the next three years, from 0.007% to 0.018% of the Assessed Value of $4.1 trillion in its 5,200 square mile service territory.  This is after doubling the rate in 2024.  Since 2024, the rate of taxation will have increased by over five times, from 0.0035% to 0.018%.

To put this in simpler terms, the annual tax on a million dollar house will increase from $35 in 2024 to $180 in 2028.  The total MWD haul will increase from $136 million in 2024 to $859 million in 2028, an increase of 6.3 times when factoring in the annual increase in the Assessed Value, and almost $1 billion in 2030.

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California Water Commission Boosts Sites Reservoir Project With $10.9m

/in , /by /Action News Nowby Alejandro Mejia Mejia

The California Water Commission awarded $10.9 million to the Sites Reservoir Project this week. This early funding from the Water Storage Investment Program aims to assist with permitting and environmental documents.

“This additional funding will help the Authority secure key federal and state permits that will advance Sites Reservoir closer to construction,” said Fritz Durst, Chair of the Sites Project Authority Board of Directors.

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California’s Farmland Program Offers Water-Saving Lessons for the Mountain West, Experts Say

/in , /by /KJZZ Phoenixby Kaleb Roedel

California’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program helps farmers transition irrigated land into new uses, such as wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge areas, or even solar farms. The idea is to save water while strengthening rural communities.

This offers a more sustainable path forward than simply leaving fields unplanted, which is a common “business-as-usual” strategy, said Gopal Penny, a researcher with the Environmental Defense Fund who co-authored a study about California’s new approach in the journal Frontiers.

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