A heat wave is expected to grip San Diego County this week, which is elevating wildfire danger and prompting Cal Fire crews to take action.
The heat will take hold from Wednesday through Saturday, with Thursday likely to be the hottest day, according to forecasters.
On July 30, 2025, a divided California Court of Appeal issued its long-awaited opinion in Patz v. City of San Diego, affirming the trial court’s judgment that the City’s tiered residential water rates violated Proposition 218 of the California Constitution. The ruling reinforces the strict interpretation of cost-of-service requirements previously articulated in Coziahr v. Otay Water District. However, given the nearly 70-page dissenting opinion, the California Supreme Court may take up the case if the City seeks review.
If you live in or drive through UTC, chances are you’ve felt the frustration, heavy traffic and daily bottlenecks along Genesee Avenue near State Route 52.
Drivers and businesses alike are feeling the impact.
“Customers get lost trying to get into the center,” said Ethan Stern, whose family owns Lorna’s Italian Kitchen. “You have to go all the way down Genesee, make a U-turn, and come back. I’m sure people get frustrated trying to get here.”
The law firm that helped San Diego embark on an ambitious water deal and guided the region’s legal strategy for 25 years has ended things with the San Diego County Water Authority.
In a new letter, attorneys with Brownstein Hayatte Farber Schreck LLP, told the Water Authority’s general manager that they would not provide legal services the agency wanted. This comes after the agency passed on a separate agreement with attorney Chris Frahm.
It seems like a good problem to have and one that should be getting even better.
The San Diego region has more than enough water and more is on the way. That’s a rarity in the parched West. It sounds great, but the reality is, it’s an increasingly costly burden.
The San Diego City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution in support of 10 bills wending their way through the state Capitol in Sacramento that their respective sponsors say will help lower utility bills and “hold investor-owned utilities accountable.”
Resolutions do not have the force of law, but Council President Joe LaCava said he introduced the measure because “it is the most powerful way we have at the moment to actually send a signal from San Diego to Sacramento.”
After years of legal battles over water rates, a new deal has promised more stability, efficiency and reliability for San Diego water ratepayers. In June, the San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District announced a settlement to a 15 year legal dispute over fluctuating prices and exchange agreements between the agencies. Water Authority Board Chair Nick Serrano joins our Laura Cavanaugh to dive deeper into this new era of collaboration and to explain why this move is such a game changer for our region.
The San Diego City Council voted 6-3 on Monday to schedule a public hearing on proposed water rate increases that could result in a cumulative hike of over 60% over the next four years. The increases, if approved, would begin in January 2026 and continue through 2029.
According to the Public Utilities Department, the combined monthly water and sewer bill for a single-family home could reach approximately $180. The proposed increases are attributed to several factors, including the cost of importing water, inflation, repairs to aging infrastructure, and investments in future water projects.
Lawmakers are poised to give California’s water districts legal cover from lawsuits as they work to meet strict new state standards for a cancer-causing toxic chemical.
It’s called hexavalent chromium, more commonly known as “chromium-6.” Drinking water with trace amounts of the chemical over long periods has been linked to cancer.
For the first time in decades, the San Diego County Water Authority’s representatives on the board of the Metropolitan Water District will not enjoy, or have to deal with, the guidance of Chris Frahm, the former chair of the Water Authority, who became the architect of its legal approach to Metropolitan.
In this week’s Politics Report, Scott Lewis broke the news that Frahm’s contract would not be coming back to the board after a tense exchange at the last board meeting .
