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Opinion: California Shouldn’t Have a One-Size-Fits-All Drought Response. It’s Unfair to San Diego County.

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

With California mired in a 2-year-old drought and with available water supplies dwindling in much of the Golden State, Gov. Gavin Newsom in July asked all Californians to voluntarily reduce their water use by 15 percent. Five months later, disappointed at the indifferent response from millions of residents, Newsom’s administration is ready to try to force compliance.

Within weeks, the State Water Resources Control Board is expected to impose temporary bans on some outdoor uses of water — including watering lawns within 48 hours of local rainfall, hosing off driveways and filling decorative fountains. Violators would face fines of up to $500 a day.

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Otay Water District Celebrates 65 Years of Service to Southeast Communities

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Sixty-five years ago in 1955, six South Bay community leaders met at Christie’s Restaurant in Chula Vista to discuss ways to import water into the southern part of San Diego County. The shared vision of a plumber, civil engineer, an attorney, a newspaper publisher, and two regional landowners created the framework and found seed funding for what became the Otay Water District.

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Santee Lakes is Park of the Year

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds named the Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve its Park of the Year in the Large Park category for its guest experience and overall excellence.

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San Diego’s First Winter Storms to Deliver Days of Rain For Christmas

/in , /by /NBC7 San Diegoby Christina Bravo

We may not be getting a White Christmas this year, San Diego, but it will certainly be wet.

Back-to-back storm systems — one fueled by an atmospheric river — will bring rain, gusty winds, chilly temperatures and potentially some light mountain snow to San Diego County this week.

While California comrades to our north saw stormy weather starting as early as Tuesday, the first storm system is expected to reach San Diego County on Thursday.

 

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Soaking Rain Could challenge Records in LA, San Diego on Christmas Eve

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Jessica Storm, AccuWeather Meteorologist

A potent storm that took aim at the Northwest earlier in the week will drop down into California on Wednesday, setting the region up to receive drought-relieving rain and snow — and the rainfall could set records on Christmas Eve.

Increasing amounts of moisture will move onshore on Wednesday, and snow is anticipated to develop across the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This will be the beginning of an extended stretch of wet weather for the Southwest, according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.

By Wednesday night, heavy rain will drench the California coast as well as the southwestern edge of the Sierra Nevada. San Francisco and San Jose, California, are just two of the cities that will receive needed precipitation. Heavy snow is expected to begin across the Sierra Nevada as well as parts of the Klamath Mountains.

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Acres Residents in Ramona Seek $1.32M Grant to Get Access to Clean Water

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Julie Gallant

Residents of Ramona’s Acres community are working with local officials and a nonprofit on an application for a $1.32 million grant that would give them better access to clean water.

The funds would pay for new water main pipelines for the community, which has contaminated well water and inadequate pipes.

Toby Roy, a specialist with the nonprofit Rural Community Assistance Corporation, provided an update on the application process at the Dec. 14 Ramona Municipal Water District meeting.

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Water Agency Workers Embrace Holiday Giving

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

The tradition of generous holiday support by the San Diego region’s water and wastewater agencies flourished again in 2021. Employees pitched in to help a wide array of nonprofit community services.

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Environmentalists Sound Alarm Over Proposed Water Initiative

/in , , , /by /The Sunby Martin Wisckol

A proposed ballot measure that would dedicate $100 billion to bolster California’s water supply is drawing a sharp rebuke, not only for the amount of spending but also for the dramatic sidesteps it would allow in the environmental review process.

For example, the proposal would make the controversial plan for a Huntington Beach desalination plant eligible for a huge taxpayer subsidy — even though the private, for-profit Poseidon Water company currently intends to pay for the $1.4 billion in construction costs.

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UCSD Reports ‘Unprecedented’ Spike in COVID Virus in San Diego Wastewater

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie L. Sklar

An “unprecedented” spike in COVID-19 viral load in wastewater collected from San Diego County’s primary wastewater treatment facility was reported Saturday by UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers.

The amount of COVID-19 virus detected in wastewater has predicted the region’s COVID-19 caseload up to three weeks ahead of clinical diagnostic reports, the researchers said. Since people with COVID-19 shed the virus in their stool even before they experience symptoms, wastewater screening acts as an early warning system.

“The wastewater screening results reported on Friday are unlike any the team has seen before,” said Jackie Carr of UC San Diego Health. Both Delta and Omicron variants of the virus were detected in the wastewater.

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What Fallbrook and Rainbow’s Revolt Says About San Diego’s Skyrocketing Water Rates

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

To understand why water agencies in Fallbrook and Rainbow are in revolt, consider the squeeze faced by Ismael Resendiz and the 250-acre cut-flower farm where he grows Protea, Pincushions and Banksia.

Resendiz said his flowers are barely getting the water they need to thrive. He said he’s had to cut irrigation in half over the last two years because of soaring rates. Over the last five years, his monthly bill has jumped from about $25,000 to $30,000 a month.

Now he’s considering dramatically shrinking his crop.

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