The San Diego County Board of Supervisors heard from the public Wednesday on a proposed sewer system rate increase for eight unincorporated communities, and ultimately delayed a planned vote in light of opposition.
The ordinance was originally set for approval Wednesday but was continued until early May after the county received at last 117 letters, an official said.
Kyle Swanson was seated on the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors on January 11, 2023, representing the Padre Dam Municipal Water District. Swanson serves on the Administrative and Finance, Legislation and Public Outreach and Water Conservation Garden JPA committees for the Water Authority.
As Coachella Valley officials eye the billions on the table to address dire infrastructure needs like local mobile home parks without clean drinking water, White House senior advisor and infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu visited Thermal on Tuesday to tout funding opportunities available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Landrieu joined U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Democrat who represents the 25th Congressional District, for a tour of Oasis Mobile Home Park where the infrastructure needs are particularly dire.
An $8.2 million award for the Colorado River Basin’s Imperial Dam was announced on Wednesday.
Congressman Raul Ruiz joined Senator Alex Padilla and Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau.
Including Senior Advisor to the President and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton to announce the award.
Californians gave their irrigation systems the winter off in much of 2023 thanks to above-average precipitation. As the weather warms, the U.S. EPA encourages everyone to perform a maintenance check in April as part of its “Sprinkler Spruce Up” effort.
A fund to help San Diego County residents pay their water bills still has $2.5 million sitting unclaimed. According to leadership of the nonprofit Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty, or MAAC, which manages the fund, many people may not realize they qualify for assistance.
“We don’t want to leave money on the table when there are people that absolutely need these funds right now,” said Arnulfo Manriquez, MAAC’s president, who oversees the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program.
As early as midnight, scores of Mexicali residents with U.S. citizenship or legal status line up at the port of entry. They cross into Calexico, walking past darkened storefronts, and gather near a 24-hour donut shop. Before dawn, they board buses for fields across the Imperial Valley.
Every year, some 15,000 people legally cross the border to work on farms in the region. In the winter, they join local residents in harvesting as much as 90% of the nation’s vegetables.
Lake Hodges Dam has received the state’s worst possible safety rating, leaving the city with another delay in making repairs some say are decades overdue.
Last month, the state’s Division of Safety of Dams downgraded its condition from poor to unsatisfactory due to seismic issues, rating the hazard “extremely high.” The 105-year-old city dam is at the end of its lifespan.
Santa Fe Irrigation District customers will see an increase in water rates this spring as the board voted on March 28 to approve the new rate hike. In the 4-1 vote, Director Sandy Johnson representing Rancho Santa Fe was opposed. The new rates went into effect on April 1 and customers will see the impacts on bi-monthly bills in June.
A project announced by the San Elijo Joint Powers Authority on Monday, April 3, aims to capture more than 7 million gallons of stormwater per year and redirect pollutants from entering the San Elijo Lagoon, in addition to other water infrastructure improvements.
The $18.3 million project, recently approved by JPA directors, involves upgrades to drainage and water treatment infrastructure in Encinitas, according to a San Elijo JPA news release. Work is slated for 2024 and expected to take 10 months to complete.
