The storms pounding California this week are expected to bring an end to a wildfire season that shocked fire crews with its unprecedented, climate-change-driven behavior.
For the first time ever, wildfires burned from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other, destroying multiple towns including the Gold Rush-era community of Greenville and the mountain hamlet of Grizzly Flats.
In March of 2018, the California cities of Imperial Beach, Chula Vista and the Port of San Diego sued the U.S. arm of the International Boundary and Water Commission over its failure to mitigate the flow of sewage-tainted water from the Tijuana River in Mexico. The lawsuit was in response to a February 2017 crisis, when more than 200 million gallons of sewage contaminated the California coast after a winter storm damaged sewer infrastructure in Mexico (“Two countries, one border and their shared pollution,” 12/06/18).
An ongoing species conservation habitat project at the Salton Sea’s southwestern shore is serving as a reminder that the sea’s restoration remains a key priority for Gov. Gavin Newsom.
So, too, is a tour that dozens of state, federal and local stakeholders took of the project site where the New River enters the Salton Sea several miles west of Westmorland on Friday, Dec. 10.
Among those present was California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, who said the tour was an acknowledgement of the ambitious Salton Sea Management Program’s progress and the overall work that remains to be done.
Vista Irrigation District board of directors elected Marty Miller as its president and Paul Dorey as its vice-president for 2022 at its annual organizational meeting.
Miller, who has served on the board of directors since 2008, represents division 1, which stretches from Gopher Canyon Road to Vale Terrace Drive in Vista. This will be the third time Miller has led the board since being elected.
Every time it rains, Angelenos might be thinking: are we saving any of that rain water?
Thursday’s storm brought some much needed rainfall, but with a burgeoning drought, many Southern California residents are wondering if we benefitted at all.
On the rare and welcome occasions when San Diego County gets rainfall, the water runoff from hard surfaces around the home such as roofs and patios should be re-directed to your permeable landscaping. By capturing as much rainwater as possible in the soil, it is possible to build an ecosystem that can last through the summer months with minimal additional irrigation.
California’s drought crisis is pushing officials to call for 15% reductions in water usage in communities throughout the state. Those found wasting water now could end up fined up to $500 a day, a new proposal from the California State Water Resources Control Board shows.
Under proposed emergency regulations, code enforcement offices could look for water wasters with those observed washing cars without a shutoff nozzle or residents watering lawns within 48 hours of a rain event potentially subjected to fines. The resolution will be considered by the state board in a Jan. 4 meeting.
The ruptured offshore pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off the Southern California coast this fall did not have a fully functioning leak detection system at the time, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press.
The report was compiled by pipeline operator, Beta Offshore, a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy, and filed with federal regulators. It reveals Amplify is investigating whether personnel or control room issues contributed to the accident but does not explain what was wrong with the detection system.
Ramona Community Planning Group members are backing the Ramona Municipal Water District’s efforts to transfer its oversight of fire and emergency medical services to the San Diego County Fire Protection District.
At their Dec. 2 meeting, members voted 14-0-1, with member Kevin Wallace abstaining, in favor of the proposal.
“This should have happened a long time ago,” said Casey Lynch, a Planning Board member. “The Ramona Municipal Water District needs to get back to providing water, sewer and parks services. Getting fire services off the books and into the county’s hands, where we know they do a good job, will give us more protection and care in fighting fires.”
By the end of December, the city will begin turning recycled water into drinkable water through its new, state-of-the-art water purification facility, the first of its kind in San Diego County.
The new water purification system, dubbed Pure Water Oceanside, uses ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and an advanced oxidation process to purify recycled wastewater.
“It’s inspired by the natural water cycle and is the natural next step for recycling our precious water resource that we currently discharge into the ocean without tapping into its full potential,” said Oceanside Water Utilities Director Cari Dale, who has led the project.
