The Water Utility Climate Alliance has added the Water Authority’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to its mitigation case studies library. The case studies provide valuable information and inspiration for greenhouse gas mitigation or sewage thermal energy use projects from concept to implementation for water utilities across the U.S.
In late January, the EMWD (Eastern Municipal Water District) was awarded nearly $4.5 million by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The funds will go towards the water district’s desalination infrastructure. Kevin Pearson is a spokesperson with the EMWD. “EMWD has a portion of its service area that has a salty groundwater basin, it’s naturally occurring, it has a higher salt contents than drinking water standards,” said Pearson.
Pearson says the water district uses reverse osmosis to purify the water and also discussed the award’s significance. The funds will go towards a study on future well sites and improvements to pipeline access.
State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez and other local leaders revealed a plan Saturday for a recreation and restoration project at the Salton Sea using $19.25 million in state funds.
The Salton Sea North Lake Pilot Demonstration Project is slated to be an approximately 156-acre marina that will be located near the current North Shore Beach and Yacht Club Community Center in the community of North Shore.
“The North Lake Pilot Demonstration Project is an important habitat and dust suppression project and a major investment in state funding to revitalize the northern end of the Salton Sea as well as the community of North Shore,” Perez said in a statement.
The City of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority are planning to develop the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project.
The proposed hydro energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir could generate enough energy for about 135,000 households.
How it works is the project would create a small upper reservoir above the existing, city-owned San Vicente reservoir. They’d be connected by a tunnel system and an underground powerhouse.
The construction of a proposed pumped hydro energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside recently took a couple of steps forward but the project still needs to clear regulatory hurdles to become reality — and a backcountry conservation group has already come out in opposition to the project.
The city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority have partnered on the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project, which looks to provide 500 megawatts and an estimated 4,000 megawatt-hours of long-duration stored energy to California’s electric grid. That’s enough to power about 135,000 households.
The San Diego County Water Authority board of directors recently voted to lower the cost threshold for construction projects to be considered for collective bargaining agreements, significantly changing how the regional water agency awards contract bids.
The San Diego County Water Authority has filed multiple rate lawsuits against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and has been awarded legal damages and interest payments.
The Vallecitos Water District received three awards from the California Water Environment Association on January 29. The Meadowlark Water Reclamation Facility was named the 2021 Tertiary Recycled Water Plant of the Year, Matt Wiese received the “Operator of the Year” award and the District also received the Community Engagement and Outreach award for Best Use of Social Media.
The three major U.S. rating agencies reported strong credit ratings and credit quality for the San Diego County Water Authority kicking off 2022. Newly released analysis by Fitch Ratings, S&P Global, and Moody’s allow the Water Authority to optimize its debt portfolio and minimize the cost of financing vital water reliability projects.
The San Diego County Water Authority and city of San Diego have decided to move forward with environmental review of a pumped-storage electricity generating plant at the San Vicente Reservoir in East County.
The project entails creating a new, smaller reservoir above the giant city-owned lake, a tunnel between the two, and underground pump turbines. Water would be pumped to the upper reservoir when there is excess power on the grid, then drawn down to generate electricity when needed.
