Local farmers are fighting against a plan to sharply reduce their special water rate discount, contending it could wipe out much of the county’s already-shrinking agriculture industry. The cash-strapped County Water Authority says it must roll back the longtime rate discount it now gives to roughly 1,000 local farmers because of dropping demand and changes to the authority’s business model.
The San Diego County Water Authority operates an impressive water delivery system capable of delivering up to 900 million gallons of water a day. But as the infrastructure naturally ages, it’s critical to actively monitor, replace, and repair pipelines to maintain water supply reliability.
Once upon a time, San Diego’s lakes were award-winning assets renowned for unparalleled fishing and boating. Tourism from competitive engagements and visits for families from across the world supported the lakes that reflected the outdoor-oriented activity that is embedded in San Diego’s culture. Today, those lakes are still here. They are still extraordinary city assets that support recreation, but the truth of the issue is that they are no longer the destinations they once were, and are not supported as such.
While daytime highs on Sunday were warmer than Saturday, everyone was still below average by about 5-15 degrees.
It’ll be a much different story in the week ahead, beginning Monday when everyone is back up above normal. That puts the coast in the upper 60s to 70s, the valleys in the upper 70s to low 80s, the mountains in the low 70s to 80s, and finally, the deserts in the upper 80s to mid-90s.
Late last year, the Sweetwater Authority water agency made a startling announcement: There were elevated levels of toxic industrial chemicals in the reservoir supplying much of southern San Diego County’s drinking water. Agency officials said they discovered the chemicals in October during a federally mandated round of testing at the Sweetwater Reservoir in Bonita.
After months of reporting by ABC 10News, the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department has implemented significant changes to address customer service issues and billing problems.”We’ve been able to make major strides in improving the customer experience for San Diegans,” said Lisa Celaya, City of San Diego’s Executive Assistant Director.
Lake Murray is one of several local reservoirs that may see their hours of operation get slashed starting next year because of budget issues in the city of San Diego. To cover the city’s $258 million deficit in its budget, the San Diego City Council is considering reducing the hours of both Lake Murray and Miramar Lake from seven days a week to just two – Saturday and Sunday.
San Diego’s notoriously bad customer service and billing for sewer and water customers is dramatically improving thanks to new software, more employees and shifting priorities. Hours-long customer-service hold times have shrunk to a record-low 69 seconds on average, while significantly fewer customers are getting hit with surprise cumulative bills as high as $2,000.
Gary Broomell, a longtime member and president of the Valley Center Municipal Water District board for almost 50 years, was an exemplar of the community man. He was an athlete, farmer, family man, community servant and great father.
Gary Arant the general manager of the Valley Center Water Authority sent a letter to San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera suggesting maybe he was too young to remember what it was like to fear drought and unreliable water supplies. Elo-Rivera’s suggestion that the city of San Diego should consider dissolving or breaking up the San Diego County Water Authority has generated some severe umbrage among water leaders in the region. Click on the link below and scroll to the middle of the page for rest of this article.
