New team of mission-critical employees relieves original 10-person crew, begins 21-day lock-in at critical water facility for operational continuity.
Real-time pricing of electricity can help integrate renewables, reduce costly and polluting peak-period generation, and save customers money, the trade groups say. They call for California to make real-time pricing an option in the San Diego area.
In an unusual move necessitated by last week’s prodigious record-setting rainfall, Lake Hodges Reservoir this week opens its valves sending millions of gallons of water down the San Dieguito Riverbed towards the Pacific Ocean.
More than a month into the coronavirus crisis in California, water pros continue to work around the clock to deliver essential services to San Diego County residents.
From the Fallbrook Public Utilities District south to the Sweetwater Authority and east to the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, essential employees at the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies continue to maintain vital water systems and perform emergency repairs so customers have the water they depend on during this time.
Although San Diego County’s lakes and reservoirs remain closed to fishing and other recreational activities for safety reasons due to the coronavirus pandemic, staff and volunteers continue to work. Crews are maintaining facilities, providing security, and sharing photos of wildlife and native blooms enjoying the arrival of spring.
The Sweetwater Authority in the South Bay reassured its customers that the water is safe to use and drink.
“In these difficult and uncertain times, the water that we deliver to our customers is as reliable as ever, and it continues to meet and exceed all federal and state requirements for water quality,”said Steve Castañeda, chairman of the Sweetwater board of directors.
To hear that the weather is producing average results prompts thoughts of a metronome, plain brown wrappers and the smell of vanilla. But that certainly is not how Los Angeles’s rain intake for the water year has reached its historical average.
The repair work for one of the San Diego County Water Authority pipelines in Moosa Canyon will be done this month, and two shutdowns of the SDCWA pipeline will sandwich the carbon fiber relining.
“We shut down Pipeline 5, and we are currently in the process of installing two internal steel bulkheads,” Neena Kuzmich, engineering manager with CWA, said. “We just started a shutdown Monday.”
That Monday was March 30.
“It’s a seven-day shutdown of Pipeline 5, and that’s to facilitate the carbon fiber repair,” Kuzmich said.
When Mission Trails Regional Park reopens and visitors return, they may notice an increase in construction traffic and activities in and near the western portion of the park as the San Diego County Water Authority improves a portion of its regional water delivery system.
The Water Authority has begun work to construct a new underground reservoir and flow control facility. The facilities are part of the Mission Trails Project, a suite of projects that mostly were completed in late 2010 to improve regional water infrastructure.
Completed components include construction of a pipeline tunnel, demolition of most above-ground vent stacks in the park, and construction of a stabilized crossing at the San Diego River.
The new underground flow regulatory structure, or covered reservoir, will help regulate untreated water flows in the regional water delivery system. It will hold up to 5 million gallons of water. The reservoir will be covered with soil and vegetation, except for several above-ground access hatches and vents that will allow for air movement in and out of the reservoir. A new flow control facility and pipeline interconnections will also be constructed as part of this project.
Pre-construction work to prepare the site has already started. The project construction is scheduled to end in early 2022.
Construction vehicles will use Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, Calle de Vida, Portobelo Drive, and Antigua Boulevard to access work areas in the park. Some trails leading to the site in the western portion of the park will be closed. For instance, the trail that begins at the intersection of Calle de Vida and Colina Dorada Drive will be closed to allow large construction vehicles and traffic to safely pass through the park. Additionally, parking at the eastern end of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard will be limited to accommodate project field offices and equipment staging.
For more information about either project, go to www.sdcwa.org/mission-trails-FRS, call the toll-free project information line at 877-682-9283, ext. 7004, or email .
Now that most of us are at home more, you may be wondering “how much more water am I using?” The good news is, it’s probably less than you think. This is because the activities that use the most water – such as outdoor irrigation, showering and doing laundry – happen at the same weekly frequency regardless if you and the family are spending your days at home or not.
