San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health Wednesday extended the existing water contact closure area at the Tijuana Slough and Imperial Beach shorelines north to include the Silver Strand shoreline.
As California continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, leaders must ensure fundamental human rights like clean water. It is essential that we do not allow this crisis to tip the scales in favor of polluters and private water corporations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed spending $300 million to address the problem of toxic sewage flowing across the border into San Diego County, legislators announced Tuesday.
The money would be part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, and will be used for the engineering, planning, design and construction of wastewater infrastructure at the border, officials said.
“San Diegans have suffered too long from the regular flow of raw sewage into our country from Mexico. With the full $300 million, the EPA can now lead a comprehensive and coordinated effort with the local community to build much-needed wastewater infrastructure for the region,” read a joint statement from Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, Reps. Susan Davis, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas, all D-San Diego, and Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano. “The health and safety of California’s border communities must be a top priority for everyone involved. We will continue to work with local communities, the state and federal agencies to finally bring some relief to San Diego County.”
The San Diego County Water Authority and its contractors have completed essential repairs on a section of Pipeline 5 in North San Diego County between Fallbrook and Escondido. The repairs included installing 156 feet of carbon fiber liner inside the 96-inch pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe to extend its service life. The pipeline was returned to normal service over the weekend – ahead of the original schedule.
The first slide of the Oxnard chief financial officer’s presentation to be given on Tuesday contains this message: “Warning: Estimates subject to change.” No politician, economist or crystal ball can show exactly how deep and how lasting this recession will go. As municipal finance leaders put together a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, the best they can do is use projections with limited certainty.
A grant of up to $2 million will allow Lomita to install a filtration system that removes a potentially carcinogenic chemical from its drinking water, allowing the community to resume using groundwater instead of more expensive imported supplies.
The small city had taken its sole well offline last year and drained its 5 million gallon reservoir after the levels of benzene discovered in its groundwater exceeded state drinking water standards.
The community was forced to tap pricey imported water from the Metropolitan Water District to serve its 4,242 residential and commercial customers.
Gusty winds are expected Tuesday in the San Diego County mountains and deserts, plus light rain could fall tonight in coastal and inland valley areas, according to the National Weather Service.
A weak, low-pressure system moving inland Tuesday will cause temperatures to drop through Wednesday, then the mercury will gradually rise heading into the weekend, forecasters said.
The NWS issued a wind advisory that will be in effect from noon Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday in the mountains and deserts.
Winds out of the west are expected to be between 20-30 mph, with gusts possibly reaching 45 mph near desert slopes and through mountain passes, forecasters said.
There is also a slight chance of light rain showers in coastal areas and the western valleys tonight, according to the NWS. Coastal areas have a 20% chance while the western valleys have a 30% chance.
The Water Authority is building a new flow regulatory structure to upgrade the untreated water system in the northwest area of Mission Trails Regional Park. When complete, the project will upgrade the untreated water system that delivers water to treatment plants that serve the central and southern areas of San Diego County.
Construction is taking place Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and will close some trails in the western portion of the park. Trail closure signs, including a park map showing alternate trails are posted to help park users navigate the trails.
The project currently underway will construct a new 5-million-gallon underground covered reservoir, a flow control facility and pipeline interconnections. The reservoir will be covered with soil and vegetation, except for several access hatches and vents that allow for air movement inside the reservoir.
This work is part of a suite of projects called the Mission Trails Project located in the western portion of the park.
For more information about the project and to access maps of closed trails with alternate routes, visit sdcwa.org/mission-trails-FRS.
San Diego County students showed off their expertise at the recent 2020 Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair, with dozens being named winners for their projects.
Scientists across the nation are examining Southern California’s poop — maybe even yours — with the hope of more quickly identifying COVID-19 hotspots and better preparing for future surges. The information could also signal when stay-at-home orders can be safely eased in specific communities.
Untreated sewage has been used for years to track viruses as well as to analyze opioid use by neighborhood. Now the race is on to determine whether it can serve as an early warning system for the new coronavirus, particularly since the small fraction of the population receiving swab tests cannot capture the breadth of asymptomatic infections.
“Testing of every individual is very difficult. But if you have 50,000 people in a community, you may be able to determine the prevalence by testing the wastewater,” said Sunny Jiang, a microbiologist leading a pilot project at UC Irvine to identify COVID-19 in sewage systems.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
