Sweetwater Dam rises 200 feet from the floor of a rocky river gorge a few miles northeast of Bonita. The 136-year-old concrete and masonry dam holds back 28,000 acre-feet of water in Sweetwater Reservoir, a major source of drinking water in South San Diego County.
The dam, and the reservoir, have been quiet fixtures of the Bonita and Spring Valley landscape for generations. These days, they’re drawing an unaccustomed amount of attention.
San Diego appears headed for the third driest start to the rainy season in at least 152 years, a streak that would further elevate the risk of wildfires in an already parched county, the National Weather Service says.
The city has recorded only 0.13 inches of precipitation since the season began on Oct. 1. If things remain unchanged through Dec. 31, the three-month period will officially be off to an unusually dry start.
Every month, Deacon Perry Owens Sr. estimates he spends at least $100 on bottled water. He doesn’t drink the tap water from his Emerald Hills home.
“It has a smell to it, a stench to it and we have tried every home remedy, and we can’t get rid of it,” he told Team 10.
Ramona Municipal Water District and the city of Poway have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to look at the feasibility of sharing water resources.
Poway has been looking to diversify its water resources for the past 30 years, but the city is at a point where it needs to develop this.
Residents and officials in North County are trying to raise the water level of Lake Hodges, but they’re facing their biggest challenge — the state mandate of levels.
California government requires lakes to be no deeper than 280 feet; however, concerned people are asking that the reservoir be raised to 293 feet. As of Friday, the lake had dropped to 273 feet, which is the lowest it’s been in the last 40 years.
Roughly 200,000 San Diego County households get their tap water from the Sweetwater Authority. In a recent safety test, however, that water flagged a toxic chemical called PFAS, also known as a forever chemical. The level is not enough for action, but enough to trigger a mandatory state warning.
“We have one data point. There is a lot of things that we are waiting for, a lot of information,” said Paulina Martinez Perez, the chairwoman of the Sweetwater Authority. “The water is safe to drink, and we are ready and prepared to do whatever we need to do in order to continue delivering safe and reliable water to our customers.”
The Vista Irrigation District board of directors elected Patrick Sanchez as its president and Marty Miller as its vice-president for 2025 at its annual organizational meeting.
Sanchez has served on the board of directors since March 2017. This will be the second time he has led the board since being elected. Sanchez represents Division 4, which encompasses the Shadowridge area of Vista.
San Diego could raise water rates by 61% and sewer rates 32% over four years to cover sharply rising costs for workers, imported water, chemicals, energy, construction projects and other priorities.
The increases, which would incrementally kick in between January 2026 and January 2029, are recommended by two new studies analyzing future revenues and expenses for the city’s water and sewer systems.
On a May afternoon, customers fill empty five-gallon jugs at vending machines beside the front door of the Aqua Bar water store in Escondido. Inside, the store’s owner chats with regulars turning the faucets at two large metal sinks. Customers come and go, wheeling carts full of newly-filled containers out to the trunks or flat-beds of waiting cars.
Aqua Bar is roughly in the middle of a neighborhood that could be the water vending machine capital of San Diego County.
In response to community concerns, Sweetwater Authority recently announced the detection of a small amount of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in treated water from the Sweetwater Reservoir.
The detected concentration was below levels that would necessitate mitigation measures, meaning additional water treatment is not required. However, regulatory guidelines mandate notification to customers about such findings.
