You are now in Home Headline Media Coverage San Diego County category.

U.S. House OKs Bill Giving San Diego Long Sought Relief on Point Loma Sewer Discharge Rules

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

San Diego is one step closer to federal legislation that would save taxpayers millions by essentially exempting the city from having to get a Clean Water Act waiver every five years for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 395-4 last week in favor of legislation that supporters say is game changing. The law, the Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II, still must be approved by the U.S. Senate and then signed by President Trump.

Full Story

Homeowners Can Apply For Rebates to Transform Their Landscape. Here’s How

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diego

The San Diego County Water Authority is offering a rebate for homeowners willing to replace their lawns with more water-friendly landscape. Residents in the water authority’s service area can apply to get a rebate of $3 for every square-foot of lawn they replace with drought-tolerant plants; $2 will be provided by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and $1 will come from the water authority. Use this calculator to estimate your rebate amount.

Full Story

Another Agency Wrestles With a Weighted Voting Structure

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego by MacKenzie Elmer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

How should power over water decisions in San Diego be divided?

Should the city of San Diego, which represents almost 40 percent of the region’s water consumers, have the most sway?

Or should smaller cities be on equal footing when the outcome of a decision could harm towns with less people and money?

That is the question facing San Diego County Water Authority once again, after the latest vote over a $5 billion duplicate pipeline to the Colorado River. Directors voted down spending $1.7 million more to study the project further, in raw numbers. Twenty of the agency’s 36 directors said no to the pipeline, and 14 said yes.

Full Story

IID Board to Seat Two New Faces, Current Board Members Look to the Future

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Eniyah Jackman

The Imperial Irrigation District focuses on providing water and energy supply to Imperial County and some parts of Riverside and San Diego counties. Recent elections had two open seats for the IID Board of Directors — Divisions 2 and 4, which were filled by Bruce Kuhn and Erik Ortega respectively.

With the incumbents’ loss, the two open seats have been filled by JB Hamby for Division 2, and Javier Gonzalez for Division 4.

Despite the possible challenges ahead of having two new faces on the Board, IID’s website states their goal is to “protect the Imperial Valley’s water rights and energy balancing authority.”

Full Story

UCSD Detects COVID-19-Causing Virus in Multiple Wastewater Samples on Campus

/in , , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby City News Service

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla on Tuesday alerted students, faculty and staff that the university’s wastewater monitoring system detected SARS CoV-2 — the virus which causes COVID-19 — in multiple sites on Sunday and Monday.

“Our early detection system identified active virus in the wastewater outflow in the five campus areas from 11 a.m. on Sunday, November 22 to 1 p.m. on Monday, November 23,” Khosla said.

Full Story

Padre Dam Named Utility of the Future Today

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s leadership in the development of water reuse as well as its strong workplace culture received national recognition with a 2020 Utility of the Future Today award. The award honors substantial excellence in the operation of water sector services.

“We are honored to be recognized as a groundbreaking agency in the area of water reuse,” said Allen Carlisle, Padre Dam general manager and CEO. “This distinction highlights our ongoing commitment to innovative improvements in service of our customers.”

Full Story

IID Special Meeting on PLA Gets Testy

/in , /by /Imperial Valley Press by Michael Maresh
One Imperial Irrigation District director Monday morning accused the majority of the board of “ramming” through projects after the board rejected by a 3-2 vote to conduct public workshops on its project labor agreement plan that will be voted on next Tuesday.
Full Story

IID Considers Giving Outside Contracts Exclusively to Unions

/in , /by /The Desert Review

The Imperial Irrigation District held a special closed session meeting Friday, November 20, as a discussion to institute Project Labor Agreements for all hired general construction capital projects and outside line work. Trade Councils and IBEW Local 47 are the unions negotiating with the IID. The subject of PLAs has been a contentious one since the October 2019 was voted on and pro-labor directors Norma Galindo and Eric Ortega were chosen as the negotiators with the union and the district.

Full Story

Environment Report: Pipeline Plan Takes a Small Step Forward (With Some Drama)

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Things got a little wild at the San Diego County Water Authority meeting last week when its 36 directors argued over whether they should spend more money studying a controversial $5 billion pipeline to the Colorado River.

Outrage after leaders apparently skipped over female directors waiting to add comments during a discussion period sparked some to change their vote on the matter.

Full Story

Lawn Rebates for Fall Planting Season

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

Fall planting season is underway and a great time to take advantage of rebates for replacing your lawn.

“Fall is like a second spring for planting in our region and it’s also a great opportunity for residents to take advantage of some outdoor incentives as they replace grass with climate appropriate plants,” said Joni German, water resources specialist at the San Diego County Water Authority.

Full Story