A career building and maintaining California’s water and wastewater treatment systems may be unglamorous, failing to spring to mind — at least it did for me — when young people contemplate their future careers.
However, the state faces a looming shortage of workers in these critical roles. It is imperative to support local, state and federal policies that help fill them.
The East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Authority (Authority) plans to issue approximately $433,235,000 in tax exempt, fixed rate notes on September 4, 2024. The Notes are being issued to finance, on an interim basis, a portion of the design, construction, and development costs of the East County Advanced Water Purification (AWP) Project.
The Notes are special, limited obligations of the Authority payable solely from Net Revenues of the Authority, and, if needed, other funds held by the Authority. The East County AWP Project is currently estimated to cost $950 million. The Authority has secured two low interest loans – a $378 million, 0.8% SRF Loan with the State Water Resources Control Board and a $388 million, 1.95% WIFIA loan with the Environmental Protection Agency.
The majority of bills churning through this legislative session have to pass the Assembly and Senate by midnight Saturday, Aug. 31, or they die. And there are a slew of water bills racing toward that deadline.
While some may make it to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, no one can say with certainty whether he will sign them, veto them, or ignore them.
The World Health Organization notes that only about 73% of the world’s population have access to drinking water that is both nearby and free from contamination, leaving billions of people who aren’t afforded such a basic luxury. Even worse, at least 1.7 billion people have to drink from a water source that’s contaminated by human waste.
And while there are notable exceptions such as the Flint water crisis, those of us living in the United States have few reasons to worry about such the safety of our drinking water. “In relationship to the risk of illness associated with other countries around the world, our drinking water ranks fairly highly as we use advanced testing measures to ensure that drinking water is safe and free from both chemical and microbial contaminants,” says Rachel Noble, a distinguished professor of marine sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
More than two months after he was placed on leave by the board of California’s largest urban water supplier, embattled General Manager Adel Hagekhalil defended his performance and insisted the accusations against him are unfounded.
The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California met in closed session Tuesday to discuss the status of investigations into multiple complaints and voted to extend Hagekhalil’s leave of absence until Oct. 23 as the investigation continues. The leave had been scheduled to end in September.
While it might seem like humans and animals consume most of the world’s water, heavy industry uses up to half of it. That’s why business sectors are looking for new ways to recycle water, especially in the face of increased drought.
Some of the world’s most essential industries, like pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, textiles, mining, renewables and power all use huge amounts of water. Now, new companies are finding ways to reclaim and recycle water as inexpensively as possible.
The Poway City Council has approved the construction of a 300-megawatt battery energy storage system facility on 10 acres in the Poway Business Park.
The proposed Nighthawk Energy Storage Project will help the local power grid capture solar and wind energy, then store the power in batteries and discharge it when needed most, said Josh Coon, vice president of development for the owner of the facility, Arevon Energy.
For more than 15 years, a pair of sewage treatment plants in eastern Tijuana have presented an opportunity – and a challenge.
The plants, Arturo Herrera and La Morita, raised hopes for a major wastewater reuse effort in the city – for irrigation, construction and industrial use. U.S. and Mexican authorities celebrated their opening, saying the effort would benefit both sides of the border.
The City of San Diego is repairing a major leak in a 36-inch water main off Black Mountain in Rancho Peñasquitos.
City workers had to bring in heavy equipment to dig down and locate the break in the water transmission line of Carmel Valley Road.
Artificial intelligence technology is guzzling water and energy in California and around the globe, yet most tech companies have not been forthcoming about the actual environmental costs of their applications, my colleague Melody Petersen reports.
That’s a huge problem, as their energy and water consumption will undoubtedly strain supplies and drive up demand for climate-warming oil, gas and coal — all while leaving users in the dark about their true contributions.
