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Water Authority Offers Help to Regions in Need During Drought

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

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors April 22 authorized staff to explore opportunities to help other water districts weather an emerging drought across California. Three decades of investments in supply reliability, along with a continued emphasis on water-use efficiency, mean the San Diego region has sufficient water supplies for multiple dry years. Those investments include high-priority conserved water from the Imperial Valley, seawater desalination, and access to the Semitropic Original Water Bank in Kern County, where the Water Authority has stored about 16,000 acre-feet of water.

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Demand for Water is Rapidly Increasing as Supply Dwindles

/in , , /by /CBS Newsby Ayanna Runcie

Limited access to clean water remains a struggle for millions of Americans. And lack of water access is expected to become an even greater problem in the coming years across the U.S. and around the world.

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Opinion: What Can Help Get Us Through This Drought

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Chandra Chilmakuri

Living in California means living with droughts – there’s no getting around it.

The devastating 2014-15 drought resulted in water shortages for our communities, farms and the environment, prompting California’s water leaders and decision-makers to implement early planning, improved collaboration, added conservation measures and new local supply projects to help balance the water needs of people and fish in preparing for the drought that is currently before us.

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California Wells Will Go Dry this Summer. ‘Alarm Bells are Sounding’ in the Valley

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Monica Vaughan

Thousands of wells that bring water to San Joaquin Valley homes are at risk of drying up this summer, leaving families without running water for drinking, cleaning and bathing. While no one knows the extent of the threat from this second year of drought conditions, Jonathan Nelson with the Community Water Center says “the alarm bells are sounding.”

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High Performance Computing Makes a Splash in Water Cycle Science

/in , /by /Newswiseby University of California San Diego

The San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, both located at UC San Diego, have forded a stream between high-performance computing and water cycle science.

This summer, SDSC’s petascale Comet supercomputer—which can perform nearly 3 quadrillion operations per second—will conclude formal service as a National Science Foundation resource and transition to exclusive use by Scripps’ Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes. The transition enables CW3E researchers to leverage Comet’s computing capabilities to improve weather and hydrological forecasts with the goal of enhancing the decision-making process associated with reservoir management over California, which could result in increased water supply and reduced flood risk over the region.

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IID’s Hamby Plans Measure to Discourage Projects on Farmland

/in , /by /Imperial Valley Pressby Michael Maresh

One Imperial Irrigation District director Tuesday afternoon pushed back on two solar projects, contending they would only provide a spike in the short term while the land would be more beneficial in the long term if used for agricultural purposes.

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White House, Congress Accelerate Push to Fix Widespread PFAS Pollution

/in , /by /Engineering News-Recordby Mary Powers

The Biden administration and Congress are stepping up efforts to control the release and cleanup of poly and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water sources and elsewhere, joining states that have expanded scrutiny of the chemicals, which are used widely in manufacturing and are extremely persistent in the environment.

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California Governor Declares Drought Emergency in 2 Counties

/in , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne and John Antczak

Standing in the dry, cracked bottom of Lake Mendocino, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency Wednesday in two Northern California counties where grape growers and wineries are major users, an order that came in response to arid conditions affecting much of the state and the U.S. West.

The declaration is targeted to Mendocino and Sonoma counties, where drought conditions are especially bad, rather than statewide, as some officials and farmers in the agricultural-rich Central Valley had hoped. But the Democratic governor said a broader drought declaration could come as conditions change.

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Enter 2021 Landscape Makeover Contest, Share Your Skills

/in , , /by /Water News Network

San Diego County residents who have converted to more water-efficient landscaping can enter the 2021 WaterSmart Landscape Contest hosted by 12 regional water agencies. Entry is as simple as submitting your photos and plant information by Friday, May 14. Eleven San Diego County Water Authority member agencies are participating, including the Helix Water District, Otay Water District, and Sweetwater Authority.

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Ramona Water District Introduces New Phone App Residents Can Use to Pay Bills

/in , , /by /Ramona Sentinelby Julie Gallant

The Ramona Municipal Water District has unveiled a new mobile phone app that allows customers to view and pay bills and to review details of their account, including their water consumption history.

 

(Editor’s note: The Ramona Municipal District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)

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