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.
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.”
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.
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.
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%.
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.
National City resident Ramel Wallace thought maybe he just forgot to flush the toilet on Thursday night.
Come Friday, faucets in the sink, kitchen and shower all spilled apple juice-colored water, he said. Wallace went straight to a National City Facebook group to crowd-source the reason and saw neighbors posted about the issue.
“A lot of people thought they were tripping,” said Wallace, who said he’s lived in National City for five years.
Running his water didn’t flush-out the color. About midday on Friday, his water cleared up. Wallace said he didn’t get any notification about what caused the discoloration.
The public water agency Sweetwater Authority, which supplies drinking water to National City, confirmed it didn’t issue a press release about the problem because there was nothing to fear.
A multimillion-dollar construction project is almost done on a massive water tank in Mission Trails Regional Park. Once construction is complete, it will likely be forgotten because no one will be able to see it.
The San Diego County Water Authority is wrapping up construction on its newest flow regulatory structure on the western edge of the park. Work began in earnest at the beginning of 2021 on the five-million-gallon water tank and it’s expected to wrap up next month.
San Diego County Water Authority Finance Director Lisa Marie Harris is the CFO of the Year in the Public Sector category by the San Diego Business Journal. Harris and the other winners are celebrated in a special section of the publication.
Harris has served as director of finance and treasurer for the Water Authority since May 2014, capping 30 years of experience in both public and private finance.
