Sprawled across a desert expanse along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s nearly 100-foot high bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full. How those challenges play out as demand grows for the river’s water amid a changing climate is fueling simmering questions about Powell’s future.
A state regional water board is drawing public criticism in Orange County for holding meetings on a controversial desalination plant in Huntington Beach, while public participation can only be done virtually amid the coronavirus health crisis.
The Santa Ana Regional Quality Control Board is meeting this morning to hold a public hearing on Poseidon Water’s request for a permit renewal for their facility, which would be built on 12 acres of a power plant and produce 50 million gallons of water per day, according to water district staff.
This feature highlights water utility employees in the San Diego region working during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure a safe, reliable and plentiful water supply. The water industry is among the sectors that are classified as essential. Sweetwater Authority Engineering Manager Erick Del Bosque is the Water Utility Hero of the Week.
As of Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecast for this year’s expected water supplies in the Colorado River is at 59% of average. That’s not good news.
If that prediction proves true, this will be one of the driest water years since Lake Powell was constructed nearly 60 years ago. The volume of water stored in Lake Powell each year is affected by three primary factors: the amount of water flowing into the reservoir after ‘Upper Basin‘ water users have extracted water for their use, minus water released from the reservoir to support Lower Basin water users, and minus evaporation from the reservoir itself. Lake Powell will lose – by my estimation — about 22 feet of water this year, or about 2.1 million acre-feet of storage.
At that point, the reservoir will be 60% empty.
Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday released the HEROES Act, the latest proposed relief package to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic challenges resulting from it. The proposal includes $1.5 billion in funding for water ratepayer assistance to help struggling households pay their water and sewer service bills.
A partnership of numerous Northern California agencies intends to file an initial plan on Wednesday to acquire the Potter Valley project from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., multiple sources confirmed.
It was an immense relief Tuesday when Democratic California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris and San Diego-area House members Susan Davis, Mike Levin, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas jointly announced that the Environmental Protection Agency was formally proceeding with a $300 million plan to fix broken sewage infrastructure that has allowed sewage from the Tijuana River to frequently foul South County beaches. While it seems that amount won’t be sufficient to address all the improvements and repairs that are needed, it amounts to recognition that the U.S. government has an obligation to protect San Diego’s beaches.
San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health Wednesday extended the existing water contact closure area at the Tijuana Slough and Imperial Beach shorelines north to include the Silver Strand shoreline.
As experts warn that exposure to pollution can increase the risk of dying from COVID-19, an array of powerful industries is pressuring California regulators to delay or roll back air quality and climate regulations due to the coronavirus outbreak.
This year’s changes to the Clean Water Act have made the already-challenging work of scientists and engineers in water planning and management exponentially more difficult.
