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How San Diego Stands Out Amid California Drought

/in , , /by /FOX 5by Matt Meyer Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

After the driest first three months of a year in state history, California’s governor sounded the alarm last month, urging residents to use less water.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order asked Californians to tighten their belts and called on local water agencies to aggressively conserve water. But the order came with a caveat: “locally-appropriate actions” — as in, each part of the state can make decisions based on the unique conditions in their region.

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Opinion: Study Targets Stormwater, More Conservation to Sustain California’s Water Supply

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

We conserve, recycle and desalinate water. Is capturing stormwater runoff the next big thing to try to ease California’s water woes?

The idea of putting treated stormwater runoff into the water supply has long been an intriguing notion in California. After all, rain and snow — essentially stormwater — feeds the state’s reservoirs. Runoff in urbanized areas — which is often polluted — doesn’t make it there and ends up flowing into waterways and the ocean, sometimes causing floods along the way.

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LADWP Urges Customers to Step Up Conservation Efforts

/in , , /by /Spectrum News 1

With warmer spring and summer months approaching, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Wednesday urged customers to increase conservation efforts in light of unusually early and rapid snowmelt.

On April 1, the snowpack was 41% of normal, however on Tuesday, less than two weeks later, readings from the DWP’s Eastern Sierra snow measuring stations showed it had melted to 22% of normal, the equivalent of 4.9 inches of water content.

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Climate Action Plan Report Card Has Mixed Reviews for Cities in San Diego County

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson Quoted: `

Climate advocates are giving the San Diego region mixed reviews when it comes to developing climate action plans.

Those plans are considered vital roadmaps to slowing the warming of the planet’s climate and steering state and federal climate funding to the region.

More than half of the region’s municipalities have climate action plans (CAPs), and the latest report card singles out three examples of good ones.

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Asset Management: Successful Pipeline Repair 4 Project in San Diego

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

Tens of millions of gallons of water are flowing through a major pipeline in North San Diego County after successful repairs on a distressed section of Pipeline 4. The urgent repair project is a testament to the San Diego County Water Authority’s proactive Asset Management Program, which helps maintain water supply reliability while saving ratepayers money.

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Californians Settle Lawsuits Against Binational Water Commission

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

On Tuesday, Californians settled three lawsuits against the International Boundary and Water Commission or the IBWC, the binational agency that treats a portion of the sewage-laden water rolling into the U.S. from Tijuana under a treaty between the two countries.

At the crux of the many complaints by the city of Imperial Beach, Surfrider Foundation, and San Diego’s Regional Water Quality Control Board and others was general frustration that the IBWC, which runs an international wastewater treatment plant at the border, wasn’t doing enough to prevent and monitor Tijuana wastewater entering the Tijuana River and the valley on the U.S. side.

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CVWD to Consider Ban on Daytime Spray Irrigation, Other Water Conservation Measures

/in , , /by /Desert Sunby Erin Rode

The Coachella Valley Water District will consider implementing several water conservation measures on Tuesday, including a ban on outdoor water use for spray irrigation during daytime hours, requiring restaurants to only serve water upon request, and increasing the turf rebate amount.

The meeting comes as the state is in a deepening drought after one of the driest starts to spring in decades. Almost all of California and much of the Western U.S. is in severe to extreme drought, according to U.S. drought monitor.

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IID Forms Committee to Keep Eye on Colorado River Negotiations

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

Imperial Irrigation District formed the Colorado River Committee at the April 12 meeting after debate on the need for another committee and the pre-appointments by Board President Jim Hanks of himself and Director JB Hamby.

Director Javier Gonzalez said he would not support the formation of another committee as with all the others, never is one reported on back to the board.

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How California’s Highly Anticipated Drought Rules Will Likely Impact San Diegans

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego’s top water managers have pleaded for months with state officials in Sacramento not to adopt mandatory drought restrictions similar to those imposed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015.

For now, it appears their concerns have been heeded. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently laid out a pathway for curtailing water use that gives local jurisdictions significant flexibility over how hard to push residents to conserve.

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East County Nears Vote on New Wastewater Plant Amid Historic Drought

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Blake Nelson

East County is moving closer to building a new wastewater treatment plant to recycle millions of gallons a day, amid a severe lack of rainfall that’s pushed the region into its driest period in a millennium.

Officials with the local Helix Water District have announced they and other project leaders are more than halfway done designing a system to make the region less reliant on outside water. The governing body overseeing the project is scheduled to vote May 19 on a final price with contractors, a spokeswoman said.

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