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Long Beach Commission May Further Limit Watering Yards Amid Drought

/in , , /by /Long Beach Postby Jason Ruiz

The Long Beach Water Commission may upgrade the city’s water shortage level next week, which would bring with it new restrictions on when residents can water landscaping.

Updating the city’s water shortage stage comes as California heads toward its third straight year of drought. The proposal to go to Stage 2, which would limit landscape irrigation to two days per week year-round, would take the city back to water conservation rules not seen since June 2016.

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Working Together on Water Affordability

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Gary Croucher Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

After weeks of work, I’m pleased to report that thanks to the improved relationship between the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) and the San Diego County Water Authority, along with increased collaboration with other water agencies across Southern California, we helped reduce proposed rate increases to our wholesale water supplies by 7 percentage points over the next two years. This is good news for water ratepayers!

The bottom line is this: Instead of raising wholesale water costs by 17% over the next two years, MWD unanimously adopted consecutive 5% increases. This will allow MWD to cover increasing costs facing every sector of our economy, including our water industry, while limiting the impact on residents and businesses.

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Here’s How Pine Needles From Torrey Pines State Reserve Could Solve the Water Crisis

/in , , /by /CBS8by Tim Blodgett

Emily Tianshi has loved coming to Torrey Pines State Preserve since she was young.

The beach and preserve is one of the very few places where its namesake grows. As a curious middle schooler with an interest in biology, she became fascinated with the rarely studied tree.

“Because the pine is so rare, nobody had studied its mechanisms before,” she says. “I would observe that the Torrey Pine needles are able to condense water from the marine layer that comes through the State Park and use that to water itself in the midst of drought.”

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Vallecitos Board Declares Level 2 Drought Alert

/in , , /by /The Coast News Groupby Jean Gillette

To comply with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order N-7-22, the Vallecitos Water District Board of Directors voted to move to a Level 2 Drought Alert April 21. The new drought level will prompt mandatory water-use restrictions for all Vallecitos customers starting April 21 and into the foreseeable future.

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Manchester Avenue Potable Water Pipeline Replacement Project Completed

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The Olivenhain Municipal Water District recently completed the Manchester Avenue Potable Water Pipeline Project. In total, 3,700 linear feet of aged potable water pipeline was replaced along Manchester Avenue, Rancho Santa Fe Road and Encinitas Boulevard.

The pipelines previously serving water in this area were installed in 1961 and were approaching the end of their lifespan. OMWD takes a proactive approach in repairing and replacing aging water infrastructure to avoid leaks and ensure the continuation of uninterrupted water service to its customers. In the third year of drought in California, projects like this pipeline replacement, help save potable water and reduces costs to ratepayers.

“Emergency leaks are very costly, can waste millions of gallons of water, and can be disruptive to surrounding communities,” said Bob Topolovac, OMWD board director. “The investments we made to prevent these emergencies will benefit our ratepayers well into the future.”

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Drought Boon or Boondoggle? Critics Blast Poseidon Desalination Plan as Crucial Vote Looms

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Among the many complex arguments over water in California, one particularly heated debate centers on whether the state should seek more drinking water from a plentiful but expensive source: the Pacific Ocean.

The debate has reached a critical stage in Huntington Beach, where Poseidon Water has been trying for more than two decades to build one of the country’s largest desalination plants. The California Coastal Commission is scheduled to vote next month on whether to grant a permit to build the plant.

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Spring Valley HOA and Watershed Benefit From Landscape Optimization Service

/in , , /by Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Conserving water and reducing pollution are two of many benefits from a new program in San Diego County.

Through a partnership between the County of San Diego’s Watershed Protection Program and the San Diego County Water Authority, residences and businesses in unincorporated areas of the county became eligible for newly enhanced water-use efficiency rebates in 2021. The Waterscape Rebate Program saves money for residential, commercial, and agricultural customers who make landscape upgrades to improve the region’s climate resilience and reduce the flow of pollutants into waterways.

The new concierge-style assistance program helped members of a Spring Valley homeowners association benefit from available incentives and rebates. As a result, residents saved money on landscape upgrades while reducing the flow of pollution into waterways and conserving water.

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California Utility SDG&E Sees Utility Scale Solar Growing Greater Than 10x by 2045

/in , /by /pv magazineby John Fitzgerald Weaver

California utility San Diego Gas & Electricity (SDG&E) has released new projections for meeting California’s decarbonization goals. The study, The Path to Net Zero: A Decarbonization Roadmap for California, predicts that in order to reach the mandated carbon neutrality by 2045, the state will need to quadruple its electricity generating capacity from 85 GW to 365 GW, add 40 GW of energy storage, and integrate 20 GW of green hydrogen – while also adding 4 GW of fossil gas with carbon capture and sequestration technology.

The utility said that they believe a mix of resources will be needed to “maintain electricity system reliability in the SDG&E service area” as total consumption increases by an estimated 100%, and peak demand grows by 85%.

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Rainbow MWD Approves Financing Agreement for Capital Projects

/in , /by /Village News

The Rainbow Municipal Water District board approved a financing agreement for a group of planned capital projects.

The March 22 board vote authorized Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy to execute a financing agreement with Western Alliance Business Trust for $9,750,000. The financing will have a 3.55% interest rate and will be repaid over a 20-year period.

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San Diego Tree Week: Concerts and Free Trees

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Water Conservation Garden is celebrating Spring this year by launching San Diego Tree Week. The goal, from April 22-29, is to plant 1,000 trees and bring San Diego residents together through tree planting.

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