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Water Authority Considers 6% Rate Increase for 2021 as COVID-19 Affects Operations

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority is considering rate increases for 2021 of 6.2% for treated water and 6.3% for untreated supplies as the COVID-19 pandemic puts pressure on operations.

The proposal that will be considered by the water authority’s board on May 28 calls for charging member agencies $1,790 per acre-foot for treated water and $1,495 for untreated. A public hearing will follow on June 25.

An acre-foot is about 325,900 gallons — enough to serve the annual needs of 2.5 typical four-person households in San Diego County.

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When Life Dries Up

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

Nowhere has California’s dry winter hit harder than the state’s far north.

In a handful of counties along the rural Oregon border, where late-season rains have done little to sate the parched forests and dusty plains, hundreds of farmers are at risk of having their irrigation water shut off — and watching their crops wither in the field.

The Klamath Project, a U.S. government-operated waterworks that steers runoff from the towering Cascades to more than 200,000 acres of potatoes, alfalfa, wheat, onions and other produce on both sides of the state line, is running low on supplies. The local water agencies served by the project say they may not have water to send to farms beyond next month.

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City Attorney Blasts SDSU Sale Plan; Says Ambitious Wastewater Plans in Danger

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Sara Libby and Jesse Marx

Friday, the San Diego City Council is set to review and give final approval to the historic deal to transfer the city’s Mission Valley land to San Diego State University. But late Friday, City Attorney Mara Elliott sent around another list of concerns this time focused on the city’s long-term plans to recycle wastewater. Elliott’s deputies wrote that city would face  “dire consequences in the future” if the deal goes forward as SDSU has sketched out in its final purchase and sales agreement.

If you have some quarantine time to kill, you can read the full memo, which includes background and explanation of the dilemma. The land is largely owned by the city in its Water Utility Fund and a large groundwater aquifer that the city could use to store water in the future.

The city plans to recycle water to such an extent that someday it will make up about a third of the city’s water source. It’s called the Pure Water project.

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Scorching Temperatures Expected In San Diego County Deserts This Week

/in , , /by /KPBS San Diegoby City News Service

Temperatures will soar well into the triple digits in the San Diego County deserts Tuesday and the blazing conditions are not expected to let up until this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

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Thousands of Run-Down US Dams Would Kill People If They Failed, Study Finds

/in , , /by /The Guardianby Emily Holden

More than 15,000 dams in the US would likely kill people if they failed, and at least 2,300 of them are in poor or unsatisfactory condition, according to recent data from the federal government’s National Inventory of Dams.

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UCSD Says Climate Change Helped Produce San Diego’s Huge Ocean Heat Wave in 2018

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

UC San Diego researchers have confirmed that climate change helped produce the historic 43-day ocean heat wave that drew big crowds to San Diego beaches during the summer of 2018.

The finding was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, in a paper that says the phenomenon could not be solely attributed to natural variations in the weather.

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‘Expect More’: Climate Change Raises Risk of Dam Failures

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Henry Fountain

Engineers say most dams in the United States, designed decades ago, are unsuited to a warmer world and stronger storms.

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Opinion: Ripple Effect – When Politics Ignores Science, it Jeopardizes Local Clean Water

/in , , /by /The Hillby Nathan Murphy

Nine states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for “trying to use the current public health crisis to sweep environmental violations under the rug,” according to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

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After 30 Years and $330 Million Spent, Water Agency Shelves Las Vegas Pipeline Plan

/in , , /by /Reno Gazette Journal by Benjamin Spillman

Citing conservation gains and a third straw to the bottom of Lake Mead, the Southern Nevada Water Authority on Thursday voted to shelve a proposal for a multi-billion pipeline that would have moved water from Northern and Eastern Nevada to Las Vegas.

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Oceanside Stream Restoration Grant Awarded

/in , , /by /Patch (Oceanside-Camp Pendleton)

The California Department of Water Resources has awarded a $275,800 grant to the City of Oceanside to design a comprehensive riparian habitat and streambank restoration project for a segment of Buena Vista Creek in southeast Oceanside. The planning work will identify a feasible restoration design, conduct community outreach and complete preliminary environmental documentation for future restoration work.

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