You are now in California and the U.S. Media Coverage category.

California Is Heading Underground to Explore Its Biggest Water Storage Potential

/in , /by /ABC 10by Monica Woods

Hopes of a big drought busting year in California are starting to look grim after what felt like a great start to the rainy season.

January delivered little, if any, rain and snow and now February is off to an equally dry start. The winter whiplash continues to challenge water managers and with climate trends showing more of this boom or bust pattern, the state is rethinking its water supply system.

Now the state wants to head underground to explore what could be its biggest water storage potential.

Full Story

‘We Are Absolutely Gobsmacked That They Would Think This Would Be Possible Here’ | Group Opposes $1.5B San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project

/in , /by /CBS8by Ariana Cohen Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The City of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority are planning to develop the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project.

The proposed hydro energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir could generate enough energy for about 135,000 households.

How it works is the project would create a small upper reservoir above the existing, city-owned San Vicente reservoir. They’d be connected by a tunnel system and an underground powerhouse.

Full Story

Poop Sleuths Discover Mysterious Coronavirus in California’s Sewage

/in , /by /The Mercury Timesby Lisa M. Krieger

A mysterious lineage of the COVID-19 virus – containing a large and startling collection of mutations — has appeared in California’s wastewater system, proof that the fast-moving pathogen is continuing to test new survival strategies.

Oddly, the virus has been found only in poop, not people. First detected in an undisclosed community by UC Berkeley scientists, it has shown no signs of causing illness. It’s led to no new outbreaks.

So where is it coming from? And should we worry about it? No one knows for sure.

Full Story

$1.5B Pumped Hydro Facility at San Vicente Reservoir Takes Next Steps, But Not Everyone is On Board

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The construction of a proposed pumped hydro energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside recently took a couple of steps forward but the project still needs to clear regulatory hurdles to become reality — and a backcountry conservation group has already come out in opposition to the project.

The city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority have partnered on the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project, which looks to provide 500 megawatts and an estimated 4,000 megawatt-hours of long-duration stored energy to California’s electric grid. That’s enough to power about 135,000 households.

Full Story

County Water Officials Move Forward with PLA Negotiations

/in , , /by /The Coast News Groupby Jordan Ingram and Steve Puterski Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority board of directors recently voted to lower the cost threshold for construction projects to be considered for collective bargaining agreements, significantly changing how the regional water agency awards contract bids.

Full Story

FPUD to Use MWD Refund for CUP Loan Repayment

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority has filed multiple rate lawsuits against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and has been awarded legal damages and interest payments.

Full Story

Vallecitos Water District Wins Multiple Industry Awards

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The Vallecitos Water District received three awards from the California Water Environment Association on January 29. The Meadowlark Water Reclamation Facility was named the 2021 Tertiary Recycled Water Plant of the Year, Matt Wiese received the “Operator of the Year” award and the District also received the Community Engagement and Outreach award for Best Use of Social Media.

Full Story

Dry January Takes a Toll on Promising Start to Water Year

/in , , /by /AgNet Mediaby Brian German

The second manual snow survey for the current water year demonstrated the impact that dry conditions in January have had on California’s snowpack. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the survey at Phillips Station earlier in the week. While the measurements were relatively strong, there is still concern for the rest of the season as statewide water storage levels sit at about 76 percent of average.

“For our survey today, we recorded a snow depth of 48.5 inches and a snow water content of 19 inches. That results in 109 percent of average to date and 78 percent of the April 1 average here at this location,” said Sean de Guzman, Manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. “That one dry month of January basically wiped out whatever head start we had as we head towards the end of winter. We still have about two more months to build up our snowpack, but we all need to be prepared for a third consecutive dry year.”
Full Story

Recycling Los Angeles’ Water: We Help Them, They Help Us

/in , , /by /KSNV-TVby Jeff Gillan

A few hundred miles away from Las Vegas, what’s happening at a prototype wastewater purification plant in Southern California may increase our water supply here.

“We are designing the project to ultimately connect to what will likely be two of our water drinking facilities,” says Deven Upadhyay, the Chief Operating Officer and Assistant General Manager at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, that region’s equivalent to our Southern Nevada Water Authority. The Metropolitan Water District is the wholesale water provider to 26 California member agencies that service 19 million people.

Full Story

Snow Shuts Off in West as Drought Recovery Hopes Dim

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Diana Leonard and Ian Livingston

Winter whiplash has hit California and the West. Doused in epic snow and rain in December, the region has just experienced one of the driest Januaries on record in many locations, and there are no storms in sight for at least the first half of February.

The weeks-long dry spell, in the midst of what should be the wettest two months of the year, is dashing hopes of meaningful drought recovery this winter. Water-year surpluses are sliding into deficits, and fire danger is on the rise in California. The reversal may soon emerge in drought maps.

Full Story