San Diego County is home to more than 214,000 acres of agricultural land. Avocados, lemons, oranges and a variety of vegetables are grown in the county.
This week, during NPR’s Climate Solutions Week, we look at how San Diego County farmers are adapting to climate change with local growers Daniel and Paula Coxe, who grow avocados in Fallbrook, along with Amy Quandt, a San Diego State University professor who has surveyed farmers on the subject.
A familiar face was featured on the cover of the October edition of Municipal Water Leader magazine: Water Authority General Manager Dan Denham. In a wide-ranging interview with former Metropolitan Water District General Manager Jeff Kightlinger, Denham discussed his background, the relationships between the Water Authority and other agencies, major challenges facing the water sector and more.
Below are some of the highlights from this extensive conversation. To read the entire interview, which starts on Page 6, click here.
Cover of the October edition of “Municipal Water Leaders” profiling SDCWA General Manager Dan Denham.
What are the biggest challenges facing SDCWA right now?
Climate change whiplash. We’ve had an unprecedented 2 consecutive wet years in Southern California, and while that was wonderful, it also created financial havoc, because water sales and revenues plummeted far below projections. Like most water agencies, we have high fixed expenses, but our revenues remain highly variable. This year, that combination of factors created unprecedented fiscal challenges.
The era of major construction is finished for us, but over the past 20 years, we built water supply projects to prepare for a dry future. I’m positive that droughts will be back, and the public will expect us to be ready for that, since it paid for those investments. In fact, the state is now saying that State Water Project (SWP) supplies could crash over the next 20 years.
So, it’s a matter of trying to right-size the water supply for our current demands while remaining prepared for the future and getting some costs off our books to make water more affordable for our rate payers.
Less than 10 years ago, we were all extremely concerned with reliability, drought cutbacks, and mandatory rationing. Between your transfers and your desal plant, you’ve brought an incredibly high degree of reliability to the region. The challenge today seems to be managing the fiscal concerns in a world of dropping demand and rising costs.
I gave a presentation recently at the Council of Water Utilities in San Diego County. One of the open questions that I threw out to the group was exactly what you just described. In planning for dry years, SDCWA never wanted to see a curtailment of water, whether because of a state mandate or through our wholesaler, Metropolitan, so we built and spent accordingly. The cost of all of that is now catching up with us. The open questions to the group were, Is 100 percent reliability still what this region wants and needs? What kind of insurance policy do you want? Do you want a lower deductible? What is your comfort level as a region? I don’t have the answer to those questions. I don’t know whether our policymakers and decisionmakers have thought those through yet. But that’s a discussion we need to have.
There’s been interest within the Colorado River basin and in Southern California in taking parts of the portfolio, whether that’s the desalinated water or conserved water from the Imperial Valley and transferring some use to another agency or even another region. Shipping off your 100 percent reliable supplies exposes you to some extra risk while at the same time providing a financial benefit. Again, for this generation and the future, we have to settle the question about the level of water supply reliability we want and can afford.
What is your vision for the future?
This industry, this space, is really challenging, but it’s still fun. I really enjoy being part of it, helping lay out the future of water in the West. I’m excited about the prospects for San Diego. When you’re willing to think differently and change the way that you’ve been doing things for the past 20 or 30 years, that’s exciting. I’m glad to be part of it. I hope I still have many years ahead in this space. If this is the springboard for it, I’m all in.
Fans turned off. Air conditioning vanished. Freezer ice began to thaw. The sun, however, just kept on shining.
Thousands of residents lost power across the San Diego region on Sunday as a punishing heat wave entered its fifth day. At one point Sunday afternoon, San Diego Gas & Electric said about 13,000 customers were without electricity. By 8 p.m., the utility reported more than 11,000 still lacked power, affecting residents from Lemon Grove to City Heights to Old Town, as well as some in Escondido and Vista. Some problems were attributed to weather affecting equipment, while others were being investigated, according to the company’s outage map.
Thousands of people in Escondido are affected by an incessant fire that sparked Thursday at SDG&E’s Northeast Operations Center, a lithium-ion battery energy storage facility.
The blaze sparked just after noon and is burning in the 500 block of Enterprise Street, just a few blocks from where Interstate 15 intersects with state Route 78 and quickly prompted evacuations of more than 500 businesses and 1,500 SDG&E customer homes, according to the electricity agency.
Water use restrictions are usually the first sign of severe drought conditions in California, but a new recycled water treatment facility in Escondido set to go online early next year could help offset those restrictions for the local farming communities.
What’s unique about the new plant is that when drought conditions develop, local farmers with avocado and citrus groves won’t have to cut back on their water use.
The East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Authority (Authority) plans to issue approximately $433,235,000 in tax exempt, fixed rate notes on September 4, 2024. The Notes are being issued to finance, on an interim basis, a portion of the design, construction, and development costs of the East County Advanced Water Purification (AWP) Project.
The Notes are special, limited obligations of the Authority payable solely from Net Revenues of the Authority, and, if needed, other funds held by the Authority. The East County AWP Project is currently estimated to cost $950 million. The Authority has secured two low interest loans – a $378 million, 0.8% SRF Loan with the State Water Resources Control Board and a $388 million, 1.95% WIFIA loan with the Environmental Protection Agency.
While it might seem like humans and animals consume most of the world’s water, heavy industry uses up to half of it. That’s why business sectors are looking for new ways to recycle water, especially in the face of increased drought.
Some of the world’s most essential industries, like pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, textiles, mining, renewables and power all use huge amounts of water. Now, new companies are finding ways to reclaim and recycle water as inexpensively as possible.
The Poway City Council has approved the construction of a 300-megawatt battery energy storage system facility on 10 acres in the Poway Business Park.
The proposed Nighthawk Energy Storage Project will help the local power grid capture solar and wind energy, then store the power in batteries and discharge it when needed most, said Josh Coon, vice president of development for the owner of the facility, Arevon Energy.
For more than 15 years, a pair of sewage treatment plants in eastern Tijuana have presented an opportunity – and a challenge.
The plants, Arturo Herrera and La Morita, raised hopes for a major wastewater reuse effort in the city – for irrigation, construction and industrial use. U.S. and Mexican authorities celebrated their opening, saying the effort would benefit both sides of the border.
The City of San Diego is repairing a major leak in a 36-inch water main off Black Mountain in Rancho Peñasquitos.
City workers had to bring in heavy equipment to dig down and locate the break in the water transmission line of Carmel Valley Road.
