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Estimate for Cost of Advanced Water Purification Skyrockets

/in , /by /East County Magazineby Mike Allen

A new estimated cost for the Advanced Water Purification project, a system of recapturing sewage and transforming it to drinkable water for about 500,000 East County residents, escalated to about $850 million, an increase of more than $300 million above the estimate three years ago.

Allen Carlisle, general manager of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, revealed the number at a public forum held April 24 in Santee, saying the project should begin construction this summer.

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Hodges Reservoir Will be Closed for Recreation During Five-Month Project

/in , /by /Rancho Santa Fe Reviewby Karen Billing Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In the coming weeks, the City of San Diego will begin emergency repairs on the Lake Hodges Dam at the Hodges Reservoir in Escondido outside of Rancho Santa Fe.

During a recent inspection, the city identified areas in the dam wall that require repair and need be sealed. In order to complete the work, the water level of the reservoir needs to be lowered by about 18 feet from its current level to an elevation of 275 feet.

The repair project is expected to continue for an estimated five months.

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Newsom: Desalination Project Should be Approved — “We Need More Damn Tools in the Toolkit”

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Citing California’s worsening drought conditions, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday made a powerful new push for a controversial $1.4 billion desalination plant on the state’s coastline.

The proposed oceanfront facility in Huntington Beach has been under debate for more than 20 years, and its fate could set a course for other desalination plants on the state’s coast. The California Coastal Commission is scheduled to take a final vote on the project in two weeks.

“We need more tools in the damn tool kit,” Newsom said during a meeting with the Bay Area News Group editorial board when asked about the project. “We are as dumb as we want to be. What more evidence do you need that you need to have more tools in the tool kit than what we’ve experienced? Seven out of the last 10 years have been severe drought.”

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Vegas Water Intake Now Visible at Drought-Stricken Lake Mead

/in , , /by /AP News

A massive drought-starved reservoir on the Colorado River has become so depleted that Las Vegas now is pumping water from deeper within Lake Mead where other states downstream don’t have access.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority announced this week that its Low Lake Level Pumping Station is operational, and released photos of the uppermost intake visible at 1,050 feet (320 meters) above sea level at the lake behind Hoover Dam.

“While this emphasizes the seriousness of the drought conditions, we have been preparing for this for more than a decade,” said Bronson Mack, water authority spokesman. The low-level intake allows Las Vegas “to maintain access to its primary water supply in Lake Mead, even if water levels continue to decline due to ongoing drought and climate change conditions,” he said.

The move to begin using what had been seen as an in-case-we-need-it hedge against taps running dry comes as water managers in several states that rely on the Colorado River take new steps to conserve water amid what has become perpetual drought.

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Why Some SoCal Neighborhoods Face Dire Water Cuts While Others Escape Restrictions

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith and Ian James

Major water restrictions are about to take effect in areas ranging from Rancho Cucamonga to Thousand Oaks, and Baldwin Park to North Hollywood. But many nearby areas will escape the mandatory one-day-a-week watering limits — among them Santa Monica, Long Beach, Torrance and Beverly Hills. Why? The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has targeted these first-ever water restrictions for areas that rely heavily or entirely on the State Water Project — a Northern California water supply that officials say faces a real risk of running dry. Areas that receive water from the Colorado River and other sources will be spared — at least for now.

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La Niña Could Enter Rare Third Straight Year. Here’s What That Means.

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Matthew Cappucci

Meteorologists are monitoring the potential for a “triple-dip La Niña,” an unusual resurgence of cooler-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific. While such a phenomenon might seem remote, La Niña plays an enormous role in our weather stateside. In addition to helping juice up tornado season in the spring, La Niña has been known to supercharge Atlantic hurricane season when it sticks around into the summer and fall.

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Climate Scientist Says We’re Not Measuring the Right Things to Predict Drought

/in , , /by /Oregon Public Broadcastingby Sage Van Wing

Andrew Schwartz, manager of the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory for the University of California Berkeley, says researchers across the West are using outdated models and measurements to predict drought.

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To Survive Drought, Parts of SoCal Must Cut Water Use by 35%. The New Limit: 80 Gallons a Day

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith and Ian James

When the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California this week unveiled its strictest-ever water restrictions for about 6 million residents, it did so with an urgent goal in mind: a 35% reduction in water consumption, equating to an allocation of about 80 gallons per person per day.

Officials said that’s the number needed to conserve critical supplies for health and safety amid worsening drought — and to prevent a full outdoor watering ban as soon as September. Currently, the average potable water use across the MWD’s service area — including residential, commercial and industrial water use — amounts to 125 gallons per person per day.

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EPA Delivers on Three Water Commitments in the Agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap

/in , /by /EPA

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing three actions to protect communities and the environment from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in our nation’s waters. The actions announced today advance progress under the Biden-⁠Harris Administration’s Plan to Combat PFAS Pollution by improving methods to detect PFAS in water, reducing PFAS discharges into our nation’s waters, and protecting fish and aquatic ecosystems from PFAS. These efforts complement the historic investment of $10 billion to address PFAS and emerging contaminants secured under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

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As Drought Shrinks the Colorado River, a SoCal Giant Seeks Help From River Partners to Fortify Its Local Supply

/in , /by /Water Education Foundationby Nick Cahill

Momentum is building for a unique interstate deal that aims to transform wastewater from Southern California homes and business into relief for the stressed Colorado River. The collaborative effort to add resiliency to a river suffering from overuse, drought and climate change is being shaped across state lines by some of the West’s largest water agencies.

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