You are now in Home Headline Media Coverage San Diego County category.

San Diego’s Water Desalination Efforts Could Get Boost in Federal Funding

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Deborah Sullivan Brennan

Desalination projects in the San Diego area could get millions in federal funding under a bill Rep. Mike Levin introduced Tuesday.

The Desalination Development Act would provide $260 million over five years for desalination projects across the country, including the City of Oceanside’s Mission Basin Groundwater Purification Facility, which converts brackish flows into potable water, said Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano.

It also sets environmental standards for projects that get federal funding, with requirements for energy efficiency, wildlife protection and water conservation.

Full Story

Desalination Advances in California Despite Opponents Pushing for Alternatives

/in , , /by /Reutersby Daniel Trotta

Environmentalists say desalination decimates ocean life, costs too much money and energy, and soon will be made obsolete by water recycling. But as Western states face an epic drought, regulators appear ready to approve a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, California.

After spending 22 years and $100 million navigating a thicket of state regulations and environmentalists’ challenges, Poseidon Water is down to one major regulatory hurdle – the California Coastal Commission. The company feels confident enough to talk of breaking ground by the end of next year on the $1.4 billion plant that would produce some 50 million gallons of drinking water daily.

Full Story

Can Retrofitting Dams for Hydro Provide a Green Energy Boost?

/in , , /by /Yale Environment 360by James Dinneen

In 1969, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished construction of the Red Rock Dam on the Des Moines River in Marion County, Iowa. One of thousands of U.S. dams built that decade, its purpose was to moderate seasonal flooding, allowing the Corps to release the million-and-a-half acre feet of snowmelt it impounded each spring at will. And for more than 50 years, aside from providing locals with a reservoir in which to fish and go boating, that’s all it did.

Full Story

Will Delta Water Users Sue — Again — To Stop California’s Drought Rules?

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

Drought-plagued California is poised to bar thousands of farmers, landowners and others from pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, a move that irrigation districts said exceeds the water board’s authority.

The emergency rules would be the first time state regulators have taken such wide-reaching action during a drought to prevent diversions from the massive Delta watershed stretching from Fresno to the Oregon border.

Full Story

Worst Drought in 20 Years? A County-by-County Look Around the Bay Area

/in , , /by /NBC Bay Areaby Rob Mayeda

Summer-dry conditions in spring were a leading indicator that this year’s fire season was off to an early and potentially more intense start.

Current drought conditions are leading to “record dry fuel moistures,” a repeating phrase attached to most of this year’s major wildfires in a season that is outpacing the 2020 fire season in acres burned by nearly a three-to-one margin as of July 25.

Extremely dry conditions coupled with intense heat waves have led to a significant increase in fire danger in 2021 not just in California but also for much of the western United States as drought conditions accelerated in severity during the last year.

Full Story

Get Ready To Pay More For Tomatoes, As California Growers Reel From Extreme Weather

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Laura Reiley

Tomato sauce is feeling the squeeze and ketchup can’t catch up.

California grows more than 90 percent of Americans’ canned tomatoes and a third of the world’s. Ongoing drought in the state has hurt the planting and harvesting of many summer crops, but water-hungry “processing tomatoes” are caught up in a particularly treacherous swirl (a “tormado”?) of problems that experts say will spur prices to surge far more than they already have.

Full Story

TID Experiencing Fourth-Driest Year in 90 Years

/in , , /by /Turlock Journalby Angelina Martin

With just one month left in the precipitation year and little rainfall to show for it, Turlock Irrigation District and its customers are currently experiencing the fourth-driest year on record.

According to TID hydrologist Olivia Cramer, the Tuolumne River Watershed has received just 18.23 inches of precipitation since Sept. 1, or just about half of the historical average. The TID precipitation year, which is different from the water year, runs from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31 and will come to an end next month. The water year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

This year’s 18.23 inches of rainfall come as the region experiences a second-straight year of drought conditions and puts 2020-2021 in the record books as TID’s fourth-driest precipitation year on record. The three driest years on record in order are 1977 (10.90 inches), 1976 (17.46 inches) and 2015 (17.50 inches).

Full Story

Drought Moves DNR to Recommend Water Restrictions for More Than 500 Minnesota Cities

/in , /by /KSTP.comby Jessica Miles

The sounds of sprinklers have become silenced in many communities this summer due to dry conditions.

Michael Lee, of Buffalo, tried hard to keep his lawn up.

“It’s (the drought) not stopping the weeds. We’ve got thistles and stuff that are coming up, and I try to nip those when I can, but yeah, it’s been rough,” he said.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says when the state drought plan hits a certain stage, as it now has, it triggers mandatory actions, including water restrictions.

Full Story

First Steps Taken to Make Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Project at San Vicente Reservoir a Reality

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

With an $18 million boost from the state, a major energy storage project using hydroelectric power is taking shape at the San Vicente Reservoir, nestled in the Cuyamaca Mountains near Lakeside.

The long talked about San Vicente Energy Storage Facility — proposed by the city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority — received the funding earlier this month when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the state budget. The $18 million will be spent to tackle some of the preliminary work needed to make the “pumped hydro” project a reality, such as initial design, environmental reviews and federal licensing.

“We believe the project is a critical component to meeting the state’s needs for integrating renewables” into the power grid, said Gary Bousquet, deputy director of engineering at the County Water Authority.

Full Story

‘It’s Been Dropping Fast All Year’: Concerns Rise Over Water Levels at Lake Oroville

/in , , /by /Fox40by Lonnie Wong, Katelyn Stark

The drought is taking its toll on dams and rivers throughout California and there is no clearer example than at Lake Oroville where water levels have been dropping all year.

“It’s been dropping fast all year,” said fisherman Jeremiah Corlin. “It’s been slowing down, but it’s still dropping fast.”

The Oroville Dam is the state water system’s tallest, but boaters and fishermen have witnessed the water level fall nearly 250 feet below average.

Full Story