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Pipelines Assessed in Record Time with Latest Technology

The San Diego County Water Authority’s asset management team recently celebrated the completion of a comprehensive condition assessment of more than 27 miles of the agency’s oldest pipelines. The assessment was performed in record time over 16 months.

 

 

Solana Beach Resolution Declares Climate Emergency, Need for More Action

In response to the adverse impacts of heatwaves, wildfires, sea level rise and other issues stemming from climate change, the Solana Beach City Council approved a resolution declaring a climate emergency and calling for accelerated action to address the crisis.

“Solana Beach would directly experience these impacts that include warming temperatures, increased wildfires, sea level rise and variable water supply,” Rimga Viskanta, a senior management analyst for the city of Solana Beach, said during the council’s Aug. 26 meeting.

LAFCO Detachment Committee Discusses CEQA, Conditions, Consultants

The items discussed at the Aug. 3 meeting of the advisory committee on the Fallbrook/Rainbow detachment created by San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission included whether the reorganization was subject to California Environmental Quality Act review, whether LAFCO can place conditions on the detachment, and the use of consultants to address issues on which parties differ.

Water District Fires Nearly All of its Employees After They Refuse to Follow Board’s Illegal Votes

A water district serving 25 cities and 1.6 million residents in southeast Los Angeles County, already waging a battle with customers and the state Legislature over its future, has fired nearly two-thirds of its employees in a last-ditch effort to stabilize district finances.

Sunday Special Report: Toxic Dust From Salton Sea Could Complicate Coronavirus Recovery

Health experts say the Salton Sea poses a health risk to the residents who live around it, especially in the age of coronavirus. The lake’s continued evaporation is already making Valley residents sick, and it could make virus patients even sicker. Farmlands in Imperial County use less water from the Colorado River than ever before. Most of the river’s water now goes to cities like San Diego and Los Angeles. That means less irrigation water drains into the Salton Sea. It’s rapidly shrinking.

RWQCB Rescinds Waste Discharge Orders for Color Spot, Oak Crest, Rancho Corrido

The Regional Water Quality Control Board rescinded waste discharge orders for Color Spot Foliage Inc., the Oak Crest Treatment Plant and the Rancho Corrido Recreational Vehicle Park. The RWQCB actions, Aug. 12, do not eliminate the waste discharge restrictions but rather incorporate those facilities into a general order so that reporting for individual facilities can be consolidated.

County Crop Report Shows Bountiful 2019 Harvest

It’s not quite on the level of tourism or biotech, but agriculture is a major contributor to San Diego County’s economy. The county’s annual crop report was released this week, and it shows agriculture contributed nearly two-billion dollars in 2019.

Statewide, agriculture in California contributes $50-billion a year, much of it coming from industrial-sized operations.

Waterwise Landscaping Blooms in Escondido

A lush native garden low on water use but not on style won first place in the City of Escondido’s 2020 WaterSmart Landscape Contest.To encourage customers to reduce outdoor water use, the City of Escondido recognizes its customers whose yards best exhibit the beauty of California-friendly, low-water gardening in the annual competition.

New Border Wall to Cut Through Tijuana River Channel

Plans are underway to build a new section of border wall that will cut through the Tijuana River channel — a concrete culvert where toxic sludge runs into the U.S. and where Border Patrol and caravan migrants violently clashed in 2018.

EPA Issues Emergency Drinking Water Order for Pala Trailer Park

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order after finding the owners of a privately owned mobile home park on the Pala Band of Mission Indians Reservation were in violation of federal laws that safeguard clean drinking water, it was announced Thursday.

EPA officials said problems with a faulty septic system and broken water lines at the Lee Bar Ranch mobile home park were so bad that the park’s residents have been told to start boiling water to drink. The EPA called the water system at the park — which has no connection to the Pala Band — “a danger to the residents of the park.”