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L.A. Water Use Plunges a Record 9% as Unprecedented Water Restrictions Bring Savings

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith and Carolyn Cole

Damon Ayala peered at a wet patch of sidewalk on South Tremaine Avenue on a recent Wednesday and clicked his pen.

“No one should be watering today,” he said. “That’s evidence of a watering today. They’re going to get an information letter from me.”

Ayala is a member of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s water conservation response unit, and he spends his days patrolling the streets of L.A. looking for homes and businesses in violation of the new drought rules.

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El Centro Implements New Drought Mandates

/in , , /by /Hotville Tribuneby Marcie Landeros

The City Council voted unanimously to move into Stage 2 of the city’s water shortage contingency plan as required by the state Water Resources Control Board in response to increasing drought conditions.

The July 5 vote came in direct response to an emergency regulation passed on May 24 by the Water Resources Control Board, which required water suppliers, such as cities or the Imperial Irrigation District, to implement Stage 2 of their respective plans, according to El Centro Public Works Director Abraham Compos.

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Pasadena Water and Power Plans to Ratchet Up Water Restrictions: Once a Week Watering Beginning September

/in , , /by /Pasadena Nowby Keith Calayag

Pasadena Water and Power is planning to step up water conservation efforts beginning this September as California slips deeper into drought.

Speaking to members of the Municipal Services Committee on Tuesday, July 13, PWP Interim General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said the agency will soon propose the implementation of a level 3 Water Supply Shortage Plan, which would limit watering days to one day per week.

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Castaic Lake Water Level Lowers to 34 Percent Total Capacity

/in , , /by /KHTSby Marc Monroy

As of Monday, Castaic Lake held only 34 percent of its total water capacity, and state officials expect to see that number dwindle even further as the long hot summer continues, according to information from the California Department of Water Resources.

“SCV Water and the rest of California is facing a serious multi-year drought, and there is no end in sight,” said Santa Clarita Valley Water Sustainability Manager Matt Dickens in an April statement. “Our current water-saving efforts are falling short of our conservation goals.”

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San Diego City Council Unanimously Approves Water Rate Hike to Start 2023

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diego Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego City Council unanimously approved the city’s second water rate hike in two years on Tuesday.

In May, the San Diego County Water Authority proposed increasing its rates by about 5% for treated water and nearly 4% for untreated water, citing inflation, increased energy costs and rate hikes set by the Southern California Metropolitan Water District.

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Tearing Out Her Lawn Was Like Therapy After a Year of Illness and Grief

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Lisa Boone

Even here, in the scorching summer heat of Altadena, Seriina Covarrubias’ front yard feels cool and inviting under the dappled shade of a magnificent elm tree.

“I thought it was going to take longer for a natural habitat to materialize,” Covarrubias says of her two-year-old garden, which is filled with fragrant coastal scrub.

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Calexico Celebrates $28M in New River Funding

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Kassandra Mendoza

After a decade of immense effort, the New River Project received $28 million in funding to begin the first phase of restoration said to bring public health safety and environmental justice to Calexico, Mexicali, and Baja California, at a press conference at the Women’s Improvement Club in Calexico July 7.

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and Senator Ben Hueso, along with California Secretary for Environmental Protection Jared Blumenfeld and his team, were welcomed to The City of Calexico by the Mayor of Calexico, Javier Moreno.

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Find New Ways to Be WaterSmart | Small Decisions Make a Big Impact in Conserving Water

/in , , /by /CBS 8 Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

California has experienced some of the driest months in our state’s history. Currently scientists say that we’re experiencing the worst megadrought in the last 1200 years.  That prompted Governor Newsom to order new emergency water rules and cutbacks. But San Diego has been leaning into conservation for some time and we are uniquely positioned to weather these water supply-related woes. San Diegans know how to conserve water, but there is always more we can do.

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Residents Complain San Diego Drinking Water Is ‘Stinky’ and ‘Smells Like Mold’

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Kucher

Earthy, musty smelling water coming out of faucets in some San Diego neighborhoods will be around for a couple more days — but city officials say it presents no safety issues.

Officials said the odd smell of the water comes from a naturally occurring organic compound called 2-methylisoborneol, or MIB — caused by algae blooms in reservoirs that tend to happen during hot weather.

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AWP Proceeds With Effort to Take San Diego’s Pump Station

/in , /by /East County Magazineby Mike Allen

The agency managing the East County Advanced Water Purification program took another step toward legally confiscating a sewage pumping station that now belongs to the city of San Diego.

Earlier this month, the Joint Powers Authority for AWP filed a complaint in San Diego Superior Court asking the court to grant the JPA eminent domain rights for the station, located at the western border of Santee, on Mission Gorge Road next to the west-bound ramp for SR 52.

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