No ‘March Miracle’ for snow and rain in California, but the San Diego County Water Authority has diversified water supply sources to weather the boom-and-bust cycle of California winters.
March brought abundant precipitation throughout California, but not enough to offset a dry February. Most large urban water agencies in the state maintain a reliable water supply in wet and dry years.
With farmers markets closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a family who has been farming in Southern California for more than a century is taking its produce directly to homes throughout North County and beyond.
For the last three years, Yasukochi Family Farm has been putting together and delivering CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes full of fresh produce.
“They’re buying local vegetables,” said Donal Yasukochi explaining how the community is supporting the operation. “It helps us stay in business.”
The coronavirus brought much of San Diego — and the country — to a standstill. Residents are isolating in their homes and working remotely, classrooms are moving online, most beaches and parks are closed, and many businesses have temporarily shut down.
City streets that once buzzed with people are going quiet in the wake of local leaders implementing policies that prohibit large gatherings. That makes grocery stores and other businesses that sell food items some of the only pieces of the economy that are going strong.
But while it may seem as if business is booming, the agricultural industry in San Diego — the farmworkers, farmers and food distributors — is experiencing the economic impact of the global pandemic as hard as anyone else as it quickly shifts to accommodate a changing marketplace. Food is in high demand, yet some of those in charge of providing those products are struggling to stay afloat.
The shortage of toilet paper is causing some residents to utilize other wiping substances and, when toilets are flushed with some of those alternatives, local sewer lines are impacted.
“The primary issue we have when people do that is backups in the sewer,” Jack Bebee, general manager of Fallbrook Public Utility District, said.
“We’ve seen an increase in our maintenance needs related to dealing with items such as flushable wipes,” Tom Kennedy, general manager of Rainbow Municipal Water District, said.
“Paper towels are not particularly made either to get through the sewer system,” Bebee said.
Scratch paper, wax and other materials have been flushed down toilet drains and into the sewer systems.
“We find all sorts of things in there,” Kennedy said.
“Clogs have been caused by that,” Bebee said.
“We see the flushable wipes more than anything else. They’re not flushable. They might say flushable on the package, but they’re not flushable,” Kennedy said. “It doesn’t degrade. You need things that are biodegradable.”
Most Americans take a safe and reliable water supply for granted. Dedicated water and wastewater professionals, including Vallecitos Water District employees, work to provide a secure, plentiful supply of drinking water.
Vallecitos Water District customer Manisha Bambhania has a deeper appreciation. A native of India, Bambhania grew up in a home where running water was only available three hours per day, and sometimes much less.
Bambhania frequently posted favorable comments on Vallecitos Water District Facebook posts.
“She would commonly write words like, ‘We all need to conserve, regardless of the drought,’ or ‘Thank you for all you do. We are so grateful for the services you are providing,’” said Public Information Representative Lisa Urabe.
Most government agencies across the region are no longer providing records to the public as is typically required under a state law known as the California Public Records Act amid the coronavirus pandemic. Even requests for records related to the crisis that exist electronically are being largely denied indefinitely.
Operations at cities, school districts, special districts and county agencies have wound down or gone remote in compliance with public health orders to shelter at home as much as possible to slow the spread of the virus.
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant turns seawater into clean safe drinking water.
In an effort to keep delivering 50 million gallons of fresh water to the county daily the plant has gone on complete lockdown.
As of March 19, 10 workers volunteered to quarantine themselves inside the Carlsbad plant for the next three weeks. The company said workers will continue to monitor and adjust gauges and switches, watching for leaks – doing whatever is needed to safeguard San Diego County’s only significant local source of drinking water.
With California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order calling for all individuals living in California to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, San Diego Gas and Electric announced Friday, March 20, several steps the company has taken to protect the health and well-being of its employees, customers and communities and to maintain service reliability.
“We have a special responsibility to continue our operations in challenging times like these and the last thing we want our customers to worry about is having essential services like electricity and natural gas,” Caroline Winn, chief operating officer of SDG&E, said. “SDG&E has robust contingency plans in place to maintain reliable service and our highly skilled and dedicated employees will see our community through this crisis. The energy industry has a lot of real-world experience managing crises, and while COVID-19 is different, we are well prepared and here for you.”
Nearly 340 acres of open space in Lakeside’s El Monte Valley is going to be put up for sale and interested parties are already raising their hands.
The five-member board of the Helix Water District unanimously voted earlier this month to sell the land along Ashwood Street and Willow Road, a lot it is splitting into three separate parcels. It purchased the land between 1926 and 1953.
Most of the property, more than 230 acres, is zoned for agricultural use, an additional eight acres are leased to the River Valley Equestrian Center and the third parcel contains a bit more than 100 acres of land zoned for either agriculture or sand extraction.
As we Americans face these unprecedented times, many are rushing to the store to stock up on bottled water and other supplies. At Helix Water District, we want to remind you that your tap water is still safe and reliable.
While it’s always advisable to have a reasonable amount of emergency water on hand, the coronavirus outbreak is not a situation that will require a stockpile of bottled water. You will still have access to safe, clean water from your tap, as always.
There is no evidence that COVID-19 is transmitted through water. The illness primarily transfers from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
At Helix Water District, we work diligently 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure your water is safe to drink, meeting all state and federal quality regulations. We collect and analyze 200 water samples a day to ensure our treatment process is effective. Our water treatment process includes disinfecting the water with ozone to chemically deactivate and physically remove viruses, bacteria and other organisms.
