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East County Water Officials Reach Tentative Agreement With San Diego in Pipeline dispute, Officials Say

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Blake Nelson

Regional leaders have reached a broad agreement to resolve a dispute threatening a massive East County water recycling plant, but many details still need to be worked out.

The conflict between the city of San Diego and the Advanced Water Purification Project emerged publicly earlier this year, just weeks before officials broke ground on the $950 million plant.

We have “operational solutions” that meet both parties’ needs, Jay Goldstone, San Diego’s chief operating officer, said in a recent phone interview.

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‘The Moment of Reckoning Is Near’: Feds Warn Huge Cuts Needed to Shore Up Lake Mead, Colorado River

/in , , /by /USA Todayby Janet Wilson

A top federal water official told Congress on Tuesday that shortages on the Colorado River system have taken an even grimmer turn, with a whopping 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of reduction in water use needed by 2023 just to keep Lake Mead functioning and physically capable of delivering drinking water, irrigation and power to millions of people.

Levels at the reservoir have dropped to an all-time low of 28% of capacity, with no relief in sight, said Camille Touton, Bureau of Reclamation commissioner who testified early Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

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Additional Water Restrictions Placed Into Effect as California Drought Continues to Worsen

/in , , /by /CBS Los Angeles

As the record-breaking drought continues to worsen in California, water districts across the state have issued a series of restrictions in an effort to curb water waste.

Joining the throngs of regions already impacted by these water conservation efforts are Kagel Canyon, Acton, Val Verde, the Antelope Valley and Malibu, which are all provided retail water service by Los Angeles County Waterworks Districts.

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East vs West Wastewater Wars Move Closer to Resolution

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

Sewage is now a commodity, a drinking water resource in the world of California drought, and the city of San Diego and a bloc of eastern San Diego County water agencies have been fighting over it.

Both parties will be recycling wastewater into drinking water but they need to cut a deal with each other to make that happen and it’s gotten fairly complicated, as Voice of San Diego’s MacKenzie Elmer previously reported.

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Gavin Newsom’s Drought Strategy Is a Major Departure From Jerry Brown’s Mandatory Water Cuts. It’s Not Working

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Dustin Gardiner

If Gov. Jerry Brown’s drought strategy was defined by the “we’re-all-in-this-together” mantra of collective sacrifice, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approach has been guided by the more individualistic notion of “it’s not one size fits all.”

Newsom, despite the state facing a third year of exceptional drought conditions, has refused to follow in Brown’s footsteps by mandating that all residents cut their water use.

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Poseidon Desal Plant in Carlsbad Needs $159M Upgrade. Ratepayers Will Foot the Bill

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The Poseidon desalination plant in Carlsbad — by far the San Diego region’s most expensive supply of water — is about to get even more costly.

Under pressure from state environmental regulators, the company is now scrambling to complete an estimated $159-million overhaul of its system for pulling ocean water from the Agua Hedionda Lagoon up to its $1-billion reverse-osmosis facility perched atop a nearby hill.

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Water Authority Proposes 2023 Rates and Charges for Member Agencies

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority is taking strategic steps to minimize 2023 rate increases for its 24 member agencies and their customers while ensuring a safe, reliable, and affordable water supply as drought grips California for a third consecutive year.

Water Authority staff proposed increasing 2023 rates and charges for member agencies by 5.2% for treated water and 3.7% for untreated water. The increases are attributable to historically high inflation, significant energy cost increases from SDG&E, and continued cost increases by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

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These Five People Could Make or Break the Colorado River

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

Alex Cardenas. J.B. Hamby. Jim Hanks. Javier Gonzalez. Norma Sierra Galindo.

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of them. But with the Colorado River in crisis, they’re arguably five of the most powerful people in the American West.

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Opinion: Painful Colorado River Cuts Are Coming, Whether Basin States Agree or Not

/in , , /by /AZ Centralby Joanna Allhands

The window to avoid even more painful cuts on the Colorado River just closed.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation is asking states to conserve 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water, just to keep Lake Powell and Lake Mead out of critically low territory in 2023.

And we’ll need a plan to do so by mid-August when shortage levels and other important operating details for the next water year are set.

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Stubborn La Niña Looks Like It May Stick Around for a Rare Third Year

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Paul Duginski

A stubborn La Niña climate pattern in the tropical Pacific is likely to persist through the summer and may hang on into 2023, forecasters say.

La Niña has been implicated not only in the unrelenting drought in the U.S. Southwest, but also in drought and flooding in various parts of the world, including ongoing drought and famine in the Horn of Africa.

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