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East County Advanced Water Purification Program Moves Forward

/in , , /by /WaterWorld

The East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Authority Board of Directors unanimously approved water and wastewater service agreements this week, moving this significant drinking water project one-step closer to reality. These water and wastewater agreements are critical to the JPA’s eligibility for key program financing opportunities.

Water purchase agreements were approved between the East County AWP JPA and Padre Dam Municipal Water District and between the East County AWP JPA and Helix Water District. The water purchase agreements cover the terms and conditions for water delivery volumes and water pricing for the purchase of purified water by Helix as well as Padre Dam’s purchase of purified water and Title 22 recycled water. The water service agreement was previously approved unanimously by Padre Dam’s Board of Directors on May 20, 2020. It is anticipated that Helix Water District will consider approval of the agreement at a Special Board meeting scheduled on May 27, 2020.

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Water Utility Hero of the Week: Ivan Martinez, City of Poway

/in , , /by /Water News Network

This feature highlights water utility employees in the San Diego region working during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure a safe, reliable and plentiful water supply. The water industry is among the sectors that are classified as essential. Ivan Martinez, City of Poway Wastewater Utilities Worker, is the Water Utility Hero of the Week.

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Businesses That Have Been Closed Should Flush Out Water Systems

/in , , /by /Escondido Times-Advocate

The Escondido Utilities Department worked with the Communications Department and Economic Development to develop business outreach to commercial, industrial, dining, and retail operators that have been completely closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Escondido’s Utilities Department has provided clean and safe drinking water throughout the pandemic, but water sitting in the internal plumbing of a closed building could be unsafe for drinking. Businesses that have not been occupied are being advised to flush internal plumbing systems to clear the potentially stagnant water prior to building occupancy. 

Buildings that have been occupied, even partially, during the pandemic do not need to take these steps because the plumbing in these buildings is routinely refreshed with water from the City’s water distribution system. 

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Water Authority Considers 6% Rate Increase for 2021 as COVID-19 Affects Operations

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority is considering rate increases for 2021 of 6.2% for treated water and 6.3% for untreated supplies as the COVID-19 pandemic puts pressure on operations.

The proposal that will be considered by the water authority’s board on May 28 calls for charging member agencies $1,790 per acre-foot for treated water and $1,495 for untreated. A public hearing will follow on June 25.

An acre-foot is about 325,900 gallons — enough to serve the annual needs of 2.5 typical four-person households in San Diego County.

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City Attorney Blasts SDSU Sale Plan; Says Ambitious Wastewater Plans in Danger

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Sara Libby and Jesse Marx

Friday, the San Diego City Council is set to review and give final approval to the historic deal to transfer the city’s Mission Valley land to San Diego State University. But late Friday, City Attorney Mara Elliott sent around another list of concerns this time focused on the city’s long-term plans to recycle wastewater. Elliott’s deputies wrote that city would face  “dire consequences in the future” if the deal goes forward as SDSU has sketched out in its final purchase and sales agreement.

If you have some quarantine time to kill, you can read the full memo, which includes background and explanation of the dilemma. The land is largely owned by the city in its Water Utility Fund and a large groundwater aquifer that the city could use to store water in the future.

The city plans to recycle water to such an extent that someday it will make up about a third of the city’s water source. It’s called the Pure Water project.

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Scorching Temperatures Expected In San Diego County Deserts This Week

/in , , /by /KPBS San Diegoby City News Service

Temperatures will soar well into the triple digits in the San Diego County deserts Tuesday and the blazing conditions are not expected to let up until this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

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UCSD Says Climate Change Helped Produce San Diego’s Huge Ocean Heat Wave in 2018

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

UC San Diego researchers have confirmed that climate change helped produce the historic 43-day ocean heat wave that drew big crowds to San Diego beaches during the summer of 2018.

The finding was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, in a paper that says the phenomenon could not be solely attributed to natural variations in the weather.

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Oceanside Stream Restoration Grant Awarded

/in , , /by /Patch (Oceanside-Camp Pendleton)

The California Department of Water Resources has awarded a $275,800 grant to the City of Oceanside to design a comprehensive riparian habitat and streambank restoration project for a segment of Buena Vista Creek in southeast Oceanside. The planning work will identify a feasible restoration design, conduct community outreach and complete preliminary environmental documentation for future restoration work.

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Dexter Wilson Engineering to Design Rainbow’s Rice Canyon Transmission Line

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman

Dexter Wilson Engineering, Inc., will be providing design services for a transmission pipeline from the Rainbow Municipal Water District’s Rice Canyon Water Tank.

A 3-0 Rainbow board vote April 28, with Michael Mack and Helene Brazier not able to participate in the meeting, authorized Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy to execute a design services contract with the Carlsbad company for up to $190,880 and found that the design itself is categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review although environmental review will be required for the construction.

Rainbow’s Rice Canyon Water Tank obtains potable water from Connection 10 on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s First Aqueduct, which conveys treated water through Pipelines 1 and 2.

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RWQCB Approves Camp Pendleton Waste Discharge Order Rescission

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board approved a rescission of the waste discharge order for Camp Pendleton’s California Sewage Treatment Plant No. 9.

The 7-0 board vote May 13 eliminates the waste discharge requirements for the Las Pulgas plant which has been replaced.

The RWQCB initially issued a waste discharge order for the plant in 1998. The sewage has since been diverted to Camp Pendleton’s Southern Regional Tertiary Treatment Plant and Northern Regional Tertiary Treatment Plant, which supports the production of recycled water for landscape irrigation and seawater intrusion mitigation.

Between 1999 and 2012 the United States Marine Corps received 12 staff enforcement letters regarding California Sewage Treatment Plant No. 9 and three notices of violation for the waste discharge order. During that time 94 violations for deficient monitoring, overflow events, and exceeding the pH limit occurred. No violations took place during the final seven years of the California Sewage Treatment Plant No. 9 operation.

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