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Oceanside Leads County With Plan to Make Recycled Water Safe to Drink

/in , , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

OCEANSIDE — Oceanside celebrated the start of construction Wednesday on a project that could make it the first city in San Diego County to be drinking recycled water by 2022.

At least two other cities or water districts are close behind on similar projects, and several more agencies are considering plans to make potable recycled water a significant portion of their supply.

“We are one step closer to completing a project that will supply 30 percent of Oceanside’s water,” said Cari Dale, the city’s water utilities director, to guests at the city’s San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility.

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Climate Change Has Stolen More Than a Billion Tons of Water From the West’s Most Vital River

/in , , /by /Washington Postby Juliet Eilperin

The Colorado River’s average annual flow has declined by nearly 20 percent compared to the last century, and now a new study has identified one of the main culprits: Climate change is causing mountain snowpack to disappear, leading to increased evaporation.

Four recent studies have found that up to half of the drop in the Colorado’s average annual flow since 2000 has been driven by warmer temperatures. Now, two U.S. Geological Survey researchers have concluded that much of this climate-induced decline — amounting to 1.5 billion tons of missing water, equal to the annual water consumption of 10 million Americans — comes from the fact that the region’s snowpack is shrinking and melting earlier. Having less snow to reflect heat from the sun, known as the albedo effect, creates a feedback loop, they say.

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Water Board OKs $3.2M Live Oak Water Plant Land Purchase

/in , /by / Santa Cruz Sentinelby Jessica A. York

CAPITOLA — A planned water recycling plant project took a leap forward this week after approval of a new land purchase.

The Soquel Creek Water District board voted unanimously Tuesday night to exercise its $3.2 million option to purchase nearly 2 acres of Live Oak light industrial property at the corner of Chanticleer and Soquel drives. The site at 2505 Chanticleer Ave. will be the future home of an advanced purification water plant, which the district’s dubs its Pure Water Soquel project.

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Trump Brings More Water — and Himself — to Central Valley Farmers

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

BAKERSFIELD — President Trump swooped into California farm country Wednesday and, with a flourish, signed off on a plan that would take water away from fish and ship more to farmers in the Central Valley.

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Fact Check: Trump says California is Rationing Water. Here’s What’s Really Going On

/in , /by /Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler

President Donald Trump had a lot to say about his efforts to fight off water rationing in California Wednesday before a cheering crowd of farmers in Bakersfield tired of seeing their water deliveries reduced to protect endangered fish.

But Trump’s claims — about how much of California’s water flows to the Pacific Ocean, and claims the state had set limits on daily water — left out key nuances that make his statements misleading.

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Trump Vows More Water for Central Valley Farmers, Less for Fish. Can He Deliver?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall
Following a golf fundraiser outside Palm Springs, President Trump swung through Bakersfield on Wednesday to claim credit for sending “a magnificent amount” of water to Central Valley farms.

As a cheering crowd of supporters watched, Trump signed a memo directing federal agencies to move ahead with relaxed endangered species protections that have curbed water deliveries to San Joaquin Valley agriculture and the urban Southland.

Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s administration said Wednesday that it would challenge the federal action in court.

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Supervisor Cox Unveils Mental Health Initiatives in Final State-of-The-County Address

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox unveiled new initiatives on mental health and at-risk youth Wednesday during the annual State of the County speech, part of an ambitious agenda that also includes giving young people a greater voice on policy and advancing more clean energy projects.

 

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Proposed Changes to County Landscape Ordinance Would Reduce Water Use by 40%

/in , , /by /Valley RoadRunner

The County’s Planning & Development Services is preparing to release draft documents for public review this week related to the project called Water Efficiency Updates to the Landscape Ordinance.

This project will update the County’s Landscape Ordinance to codify requirements set forth by the County’s Climate Action Plan Measures W-1.2 and A-2.1. PDS began implementing these requirements upon approval of the CAP in 2018 through the CAP Development Checklist and existing landscape review process within PDS.

 One result of the ordinance will be to reduce outdoor water use in new and existing residential and non-residential landscaping 40% from 2014 levels.

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Oceanside Breaks Ground on Advanced Water Purification Plant

/in , /by /KUSI News (San Diego)by Dan Plante

OCEANSIDE (KUSI) – Oceanside officials broke ground Wednesday on Pure Water Oceanside, a recycled-water purification plant billed as the first of its kind in the county.

The $67 million project will take water from Oceanside’s San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility and purify it to drinking water standards in a way project proponents describe as “clean, safe, drought-proof and environmentally sound.”

The site’s technology will be used to replicate and accelerate the natural recycling process to provide 3 million to 5 million gallons of fresh water a day, more than 32% of Oceanside’s water supply.

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Trump OKs More California Water for Valley Farmers. Gavin Newsom Promises to Sue

/in , , /by /Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler, Briannna Calix, and Carmen George

Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a preemptive strike against President Donald Trump, said Wednesday he plans to sue Trump’s administration to block a controversial plan to increase water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley.

Newsom’s office said he “will file legal action in the coming days … to protect highly imperiled fish species close to extinction.”

The announcement came just minutes before Trump appeared in Bakersfield to announce he’s finalized an order removing regulatory roadblocks and enabling the giant Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps to deliver additional water to the southern half of the state.

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