The San Diego County Water Authority is providing training opportunities to military veterans looking for new careers in public service as part of the Skillbridge Program. The program is helping military veterans transition to career-track training opportunities, including work in the water and wastewater industry.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Monday calling for increased water conservation after the driest first quarter in California’s history, but the San Diego region will be largely spared.
Newsom called on local water suppliers to move to their Level 2 drought plans, which anticipate shortages of up to 20% and could include restrictions on watering in many parts of the state.
Even with our recent storm, San Diego County is still well below our average for rain this year. And as bad as the drought conditions are here, in Northern California they are even worse.
As a result, Governor Gavin Newsom just issued an executive order that moves the state into a stricter level of water saving, but he’s allowing each local district to set its own rules.
“We’re going to continue with our water conservation practices,” said Jeff Stephenson, Water Resources Manager with the San Diego County Water Authority. “We’ve ramped up our messaging and then directing people to our conservation programs.”
It rained almost two inches over Monday night in certain parts of the San Diego region, but the drought is not over. In fact, Jeff Stephenson, water resources manager at San Diego County Water Authority, said residents should consider turning off their sprinklers for the next seven days.
Of the six levels of emergency actions taken during a drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday moved California from the first to the second level. That means local water suppliers must act like supplies have dipped by at least 10 to 20 percent, as CalMatters explained.
But he isn’t requiring everybody to cut water use by the same amount across the board. This time he’s letting cities and jurisdictions trigger their local plans for action during drought prepared back in 2020.
Interim City Manager Cynthia Kurtz sent an opposition letter to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) over rate increases.
“Pasadena does not support rate increases of 8% and 8% for each of the next two years,” Kurtz wrote in the March 21 letter. “Over the past decade, Metropolitan staff has continuously communicated to its member agencies to expect rate increases of 3-5% per annum. And, Metropolitan has stayed that course and managed to operate within those parameters despite some of the most challenging drought years in recorded history.”
They don’t look like much — 126 cubes, each holding 16 modules of batteries — simply sitting on an expanse of flat land owned by San Diego Gas & Electric off Route 163.
But it’s no exaggeration to say that California’s hopes of decarbonizing its power system depend on developing a vast number of utility-scale energy storage facilities across the state, such as the one SDG&E opened earlier this month in Kearny Mesa.
On the heels of the driest ever start to the year in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday issued a sweeping executive order calling on local water suppliers to implement more aggressive conservation measures as reservoirs dwindle and residents backslide in their efforts to cut back.
Specifically, the order requires that urban water suppliers activate “Level 2″ of their locally customized contingency plans, meaning they must prepare for a shortage of up to 20%.
My newsletter has become a dumping ground of late for all things Tijuana River sewage crisis, metaphor intended.
This week, an update on the issue I wrote about last week – a stalled, seemingly simple piece of legislation that would allow San Diego to spend $300 million from the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and stop more polluted water from reaching the Pacific Ocean. Chris Helmer, director of environment and natural resources for Imperial Beach, a coastal border town, wanted to know: who in Congress is holding it up?
A delegation of over 170 local and regional San Diego elected officials, business and nonprofit leaders went to Washington D.C. this week to lobby for infrastructure dollars. This is the 14th year the region has sent a delegation. The annual trip is organized by San Diego’s Regional Chamber of Commerce.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in a news conference on Monday morning they have dozens of meetings scheduled with federal leaders to make the case for the urgent needs of the region. He and several other delegation members already met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
San Diego County Water Authority Finance Director Lisa Marie Harris has been named CFO of the Year in the Public Sector category by the San Diego Business Journal.
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. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing the Water Authority’s $1.98 billion debt portfolio, a $503 million investment portfolio, the development of the biannual $1.7 billion operating budget, and setting annual rates and charges.
