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Biden Administration Punts on Big Colorado River Move

/in , /by /Politicoby Annie Snider

The Biden administration has told Colorado River negotiators it no longer plans to issue its draft set of plans for managing the waterway in December, leaving the next major move in the battle over the West’s most important river to the next president.

The federal plans for the waterway are of increasing importance since the seven states that share it are deadlocked over new rules to govern the river after 2026. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation had said for months that it intended to issue them as part of a draft environmental impact statement at the end of the year.

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San Diego Issues $25,000 Credit for Erroneous Water Bill to 84-Year-Old Veteran after Team 10 Investigation

/in , /by /ABC 10by Craig Harris

Michael Mudurian served in the Air Force and then settled into his Point Loma home with an ocean view 50 years ago.

For decades, the lifelong bachelor said he had a pretty high water bill because he loved to water his garden and nourish the lush, green grass in his front yard.

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Santa Fe Irrigation District Considers Improvements to Rancho Santa Fe Corporate Yard

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Billing

At a special meeting on Oct. 7, the Santa Fe Irrigation District board started initial discussions on potential improvements to its corporate yard and administrative offices at their Rancho Santa Fe Village site on Linea Del Cielo. The project, which would address staff space needs, aging facilities and new regulations and compliance requirements, came with a projected cost of $31.3 million, which resulted in sticker shock for both board and community members.

“This is really the first of many steps of looking at a corporate yard facilities needs assessment,” said SFID General Manager Al Lau.

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New Cases Threaten Local Revenues in Coziahr v. Otay Water District

/in , /by /PublicCEO

Two recent decisions of the California Court of Appeal have increased risk for California’s local governments as to utility fees and fees imposed to fund regulation. A new statute provides a means to reduce that risk somewhat.

Coziahr v. Otay Water District is a class-action challenge to tiered water rates imposed by a district which serves territory along the international border south and east of San Diego.

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Students learn about job opportunities at Water Career Day

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribune

From delivering potable water to collecting wastewater, nearly 100 high school and college students got an up-close look at opportunities Oct. 10 during Water Career Day at the San Elijo Joint Powers Authority Water Campus in Encinitas, according to a news release.

Engineering students from Mission Hills High School and students from Palomar College’s Water and Wastewater Technology programs toured the campus, stopping at stations staffed by workers from San Elijo JPA, Leucadia Wastewater District and Olivenhain Municipal Water District.

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Brace for higher SDG&E bills after utilities commission releases proposed decision on rates

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

San Diego Gas & Electric customers would pay 2.7% more on their electric bills starting next year while customers with natural gas hookups may pay almost 9% more, according to a proposed decision released Friday afternoon by the California Public Utilities Commission.

It’s not welcome news for SDG&E’s 3.7 million customers saddled with high power bills, but the potential increase is hundreds of millions of dollars lower than what the utility requested.

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Asheville’s Dirty Water Warns of Climate Risk to Aging US Infrastructure

/in , /by /BNN Bloombergby Kendra Pierre-Louis, Zahra Hirji, and Michael Smith

Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated swaths of the southeastern US by bringing too much water. Now, communities are struggling with the opposite problem: too little of it.

The North Fork Water Treatment Plant supplies most of the drinking water to Asheville, North Carolina, and some surrounding mountain towns. Built in the 1970s, it was known for its clear water, which flows into the plant from a large reservoir.

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American Water Customers Sue for Damages of More than $5M After Recent Hack

/in , /by /Courier Postby Jim Walsh

American Water Co., hit by hackers early this month, now is being sued by customers seeking damages for the potential theft of identity information. At least two suits in Camden federal court say claims will exceed $5 million, the minimum required for proposed class action litigation.

Each contends American Water was negligent in allowing one or more hackers to enter its computer system. The suits seek to represent “all persons whose PII [personally identifiable information] was compromised” by the hack.

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Firm Tied to Flint, Michigan, Water Crisis Facing Lawsuits Over Tijuana River Sewage

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Philip Salata

For decades South Bay communities have faced the repercussions of failing sewage and wastewater facilities on both sides of the border.

The Tijuana River sewage crisis in San Diego has something in common with a historic water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan: a contractor accused in lawsuits of making matters worse.

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A Weak La Niña Could Bring Dry Conditions to Parts of Southwest this Winter, NOAA Says

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James and Grace Toohey

A weak La Niña is forecast to appear this winter and affect weather patterns across the country, likely bringing drier-than-average conditions in much of the Southwest and wetter-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The outlook is uncertain, however, for much of California, where NOAA experts predict there are equal chances of below-average, average or above-average winter precipitation.

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