A one-two punch of storm systems is expected to drape the Bay Area in rainy weather for much of the upcoming week while potentially making holiday travel in the Sierra Nevada mountains “very challenging to impossible,” meteorologists say.
A proposed ballot measure that would dedicate $100 billion to bolster California’s water supply is drawing a sharp rebuke, not only for the amount of spending but also for the dramatic sidesteps it would allow in the environmental review process.
For example, the proposal would make the controversial plan for a Huntington Beach desalination plant eligible for a huge taxpayer subsidy — even though the private, for-profit Poseidon Water company currently intends to pay for the $1.4 billion in construction costs.
An “unprecedented” spike in COVID-19 viral load in wastewater collected from San Diego County’s primary wastewater treatment facility was reported Saturday by UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers.
The amount of COVID-19 virus detected in wastewater has predicted the region’s COVID-19 caseload up to three weeks ahead of clinical diagnostic reports, the researchers said. Since people with COVID-19 shed the virus in their stool even before they experience symptoms, wastewater screening acts as an early warning system.
“The wastewater screening results reported on Friday are unlike any the team has seen before,” said Jackie Carr of UC San Diego Health. Both Delta and Omicron variants of the virus were detected in the wastewater.
To understand why water agencies in Fallbrook and Rainbow are in revolt, consider the squeeze faced by Ismael Resendiz and the 250-acre cut-flower farm where he grows Protea, Pincushions and Banksia.
Resendiz said his flowers are barely getting the water they need to thrive. He said he’s had to cut irrigation in half over the last two years because of soaring rates. Over the last five years, his monthly bill has jumped from about $25,000 to $30,000 a month.
Now he’s considering dramatically shrinking his crop.
Residents across the western United States who have drought relief on their holiday wish lists this season will be in luck over the next week. A series of storms will take aim at the West Coast and deliver needed rain and mountain snow from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest through Christmas Day.
Work is progressing toward completion on the first of two pipeline replacement projects in Encinitas by Olivenhain Municipal Water District.
Replacement of an existing drinking water pipeline is wrapping up at Rancho Santa Fe Road and Encinitas Boulevard, with completion expected in early 2022. The original pipeline was installed in 1961 and was approaching the end of its lifespan. Proactively replacing aging water pipelines prevents leaks and avoids emergency shutdowns.
The Rainbow Municipal Water District’s Rice Canyon Pipeline project will have cultural and tribal monitoring during construction.
The official Rainbow board action Dec. 7, which was approved on a 4-0 vote with Pam Moss absent, approves a change order to the as-needed consulting services contract the district has with Helix Environmental Planning. The board also appropriated an additional $115,000 to cover the cost of the cultural and tribal consulting work.
As heavy rain swept across Southern California on Tuesday, another rare water event was taking place. The Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California agreed to buy thousands of acre-feet of water from the San Diego County Water Authority.
Usually, water sales go in the other direction.
The transaction is significant on a number of fronts. The water should help some of MWD’s member agencies that are in dire straights due to drought and severe cutbacks from the State Water Project. Also, the deal again underscores that the Water Authority, which also is a member under Metropolitan’s umbrella, has for years moved to diversify and stockpile water supplies to become more resilient during drought conditions.
The drought is far from over in California, but this week’s atmospheric river may have begun to put a small dent in the state’s worrisome water deficit. While a prior October atmospheric event earlier in the year brought historic rainfall totals to Northern California, this most recent storm delivered drenching rains to both the north and the south and blasted the Sierra Nevada with snow.
