Lake Mead is projected to hit an all-time low by summer 2027, according to new projections released by federal authorities.
The reservoir is forecast to drop to 1,020 feet in July 2027, 20 feet lower than its previous record low of 1,040 feet in July 2022. That year, long-sunken boats and once-submerged rocks emerged from the water.
Just off Palm Canyon Drive in Borrego Springs, a dead honey mesquite tree remains rooted in the hot sand. It’s lifeless but not yet useless — not to the creatures that find shade under its branches or the plants that count on its nutrients.
Over the last year, mesquite has been at the heart of a growing water war in Borrego Springs, a tiny but scenic town deep in the San Diego County desert that for years seemed blessed with a rare combination of blazing sun and a font of available groundwater.
San Diego County has long been known as a place that solves hard problems with innovation – and our region’s approach to water is no exception.
While much of the West grapples with drought and water insecurity, our region spent decades preparing and investing for a dry future. That strategy is now paying off in new ways: In the past few weeks, the San Diego County Water Authority approved two landmark water‑transfer partnerships that not only help our neighbors but also deliver real financial benefits for local ratepayers.
San Diego’s water portfolio has positioned the region to do something rare for a major U.S. city: share its hard-won supply with neighbors still battling drought. Negotiations are underway for Arizona and Nevada to tap part of San Diego County’s Colorado River allocation in return for covering the operating costs of the massive Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
The proposal would leverage years of local investments in desalination, storage and water rights to create a regional safety net — one that could deliver water to roughly half a million people in neighboring states during dry spells while keeping San Diego’s system stable and affordable.
The new data center proposed for a quiet city about 115 miles east of San Diego came across people’s radars in different ways.
For patrons of the deli on West Aten Road, it was the white “Not In My Backyard” signs jutting out of lawns. For local irrigation district workers, it was something called an “electric service application.”
(scroll down) No one is getting rid of the San Diego County Water Authority just yet.
The San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, had planned to look into the possibility in what’s called a municipal service review, or MSR. But on Monday, LAFCO commissioners scrapped that process.
Lake Hodges is a San Diego landmark where people hike, bike, fish, kayak, canoe, bird watch and take photographs against the backdrop of a century-old, city-owned reservoir.
It’s also a disaster waiting to happen. The question is whether calamity would come by flood or by fire.
Drought cuts down harvests every year, but new local research may allow farmers to maximize their output even as water becomes more scarce.
A team at the Salk Institute investigating plant aging has charted a new path to drought-tolerant crops. While the broader scientific community is packed with research on human aging, they have found plants approach the process very differently.
Getting rid of the San Diego County Water Authority might be the best way to address regional water costs and needs in the future.
That’s what the plurality of concepts studied by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission or LAFCO, suggest under its first audit of the county’s water wholesaler. The Water Authority fell under LAFCO’s scrutiny a few years ago after two member water districts fought to leave the agency over its high water prices.
The Poway City Council unanimously approved a $441,000 payment to the city of San Diego on Tuesday to resolve a years-long billing dispute and establish an amended water rights agreement with the city.
The payment retroactively replaces water charges made by San Diego to Poway for the calendar years 2017 to 2025, according to a Poway staff report.
