The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served more than 100 billion gallons of water over the past seven years — a milestone reached in late October, the San Diego County Water Authority and plant owners announced Tuesday.
The plant, which produces 50 million gallons of drinking water daily, enough for 400,000 homes meeting 10% of San Diego County’s water demand, is the largest in the United States.
The Board of Supervisors Tuesday officially added Riverside County to a statewide coalition of interests promulgating steps by the state to expand water infrastructure and take other actions to prevent water shortages during cyclical droughts, including the current one. “Different (local) water companies are getting together on the same page,” board Chairman Jeff Hewitt said. “It gives me hope they’ll find solutions sooner than later.”
Californians are living in the state’s driest period on record and residents are being asked to conserve water as reservoirs run low and demand exceeds a supply stressed by climate change. The Vallecitos Water District is moving San Marcos and surrounding areas to restrict outdoor irrigation to two days a week. A large share of the state’s water is used for agriculture, and growers have seen water deliveries slashed during the drought.
The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served more than 100 billion gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water over the past seven years – a milestone passed in late October, as California entered a fourth consecutive year of severe drought.
The plant produces an average of more than 50 million gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water every day. It’s a foundational water supply for the San Diego region that minimizes vulnerability to drought and other water supply emergencies.
Outdoor irrigation in San Marcos and nearby communities will be restricted to two days a week starting Tuesday, according to the Vallecitos Water District.
The agency — which also serves parts of Carlsbad, Escondido and Vista, as well as the Lake San Marcos and other unincorporated communities — had limited watering of lawns and other landscaping to three days a week from June through October.
Residents can choose the days they would like to water. The restrictions don’t apply to farmers with agricultural water accounts or nurseries.
A San Diego committee has approved a series of agreements between the city and a planned water recycling project in East County, potentially heading off a court fight over a plant that could help hundreds of thousands of people. The documents pave the way for San Diego to hand over a pump station to the Advanced Water Purification Project, and for the construction of a pipeline so waste generated by East County can be diverted from the city.
MWD has been working on a new source of reliable water called the Pure Water Southern California recycling program, that takes cleaned wastewater and purifies it into high-quality drinking water.
MWD is asking for public comment on this project through Nov. 14.
The Nov. 8 election will include two Rainbow Municipal Water District board seats. Miguel Gasca is the incumbent for the Division 3 seat and is being challenged by Greg Irvine. Bill Stewart was appointed to fill the District 4 vacancy and is being challenged by Patti Townsend-Smith, whose communications preference ran afoul of a monthly data limit.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared 41 parcels, including a 14.48-acre parcel on the west side of Pala Temecula Road, as surplus land which is no longer required for MWD’s current and foreseeable needs. The MWD board vote Oct. 11 also authorized MWD staff to take the necessary actions to divest the parcels. Another public agency will have the first option to obtain the land, and if no public agency desires a specific parcel at a mutually agreeable price the land may be sold to a private party.
The cost of water has over last two decades risen dramatically across San Diego County as a result of investments in desalination, ongoing maintenance, ever-increasing energy prices and unprecedented conservation. However, not everyone’s feeling those impacts equally. Rates vary considerably among the region’s two dozen local water agencies, according to an analysis done last year by the Otay Water District. For example, a typical 1,100 cubic feet of water costs about $90 a month in the city of San Diego, compared to nearly $137 in the Padre Dam Municipal Water District.
