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New Pilot Program Helps Southern California Grow Native Plants

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and local water agencies have teamed up with the California Native Plant Society to bring more native plants to the region’s homes and gardens.

A new pilot program launched by the organizations this fall will boost the number and variety of native plants offered at local nurseries and ensure consumers have the information they need to plant and maintain the water-efficient flowers, trees, shrubs and succulents.

Oceanside to Launch Sand Retention Study

Alarmed by Oceanside’s shrinking beaches, a group of residents succeeded this week in getting the city to consider taking on the federal government’s oversight of a local sand replenishment project. The City Council unanimously approved a motion Wednesday by Mayor Peter Weiss to have staffers prepare a capital budget amendment to cover the anticipated costs of a sand-retention project. Details will be presented at an upcoming council meeting.

Governor Signs Two Bills Crucial for San Diego’s Transit and Water Plans

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed two bills that are critical to San Diego’s plans for improved mass transit and water recycling for long-term drought protection. On Friday night the governor signed Assemblyman Todd Gloria’s Assembly Bill 1413, which will support local referendums on transit funding, and Assembly Bill 1290 by Gloria and Sen. Toni Atkins that clears the way for the pioneering Pure Water project.

Activists Rally For Solutions to Tijuana Sewage Problem

Activists pushed for action at a rally Saturday morning addressing the toxic flow of sewage from Tijuana into Southern California beaches.

Sewage flowing into the Tijuana River has been responsible for closing beaches an average of 300 days a year. Environmental organization “Stop the Poop” wants to see permanent solutions.

“This is environmental and biological terrorism on the people of the United States of America,” said Stop the Poop Founder Baron Partlow.

Reliable Water Supplies Sustain San Diego’s Military Sector

The military sector accounts for more than 20% of the San Diego region’s economy, and that would not be possible without a safe, reliable water supply. The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies, including Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, provide the water needed for military operations, military families and military contractors.

A new report shows that an estimated total of $28.1 billion in direct spending related to defense flowed into San Diego County during fiscal year 2019, accounting for one-in-five jobs in the region.

Desalination: Poseidon Still Trying to Plant Its Trident Into Huntington Beach

HUNTINGTON BEACH—Southern California was hit with enough rain in 2019 for many experts and observers to declare an end to the region’s most recent drought – which could be bad news for Poseidon Water’s plans to build a desalination plant near land’s edge in Huntington Beach. It is hard to drum up a lot of noise for water security when we’re not in a drought. The current state of Southern California’s water security – or insecurity – certainly isn’t giving Poseidon any ammunition to make its case for a $1 billion desalination plant in Huntington Beach.

EVWD Adds Renewable Energy to Sterling Project

Working to “Make Every Source a Resource” and striving toward a more sustainable future, East Valley Water District (EVWD) Board of Directors approved the addition of state-of-the-art co-digester technology at the Sterling Natural Resource Center (SNRC) during the Sept. 11 board meeting. This enhancement represents a significant improvement to the project by allowing the SNRC to produce enough renewable electricity to meet the facility’s energy needs, with additional electricity transferred onto the energy grid.

What it Takes to Deep Clean a Water Reclamation Facility

If a water reclamation facility goes off-line, it is a major problem. Yet there are certain major maintenance operations that can’t be done while the process is running normally. So, what gives when this particular irresistible force meets this immovable object? You have to get creative. The City of Victorville, CA built an innovative treatment plant for their community in 2010, which takes both sanitary wastewater as well as industrial wastewater from a beverage bottling facility and provides recycled water to a nearby power plant. It handles an average flow of 1.7 million gallons per day.

Wastewater Project Could Create Drought-Proof Drinking Water for 500,000 Southern California Homes

In its effort to establish a new, drought-proof source of water that could serve a half-million Southern California homes, the Metropolitan Water District on Thursday, Oct. 10 unveiled a $17 million pilot plant that will bring wastewater to drinkable standards. Water from the trial project in Carson will not be piped to customers – it will be put back with regularly treated wastewater and pumped into the ocean. But it’s a key step toward construction of a working plant that would reduce the region’s dependence on imported water.

Governor’s Water Resilience Portfolio Will Impact Local Water Agencies

San Bernardino Valley residents will find out later this month how far Governor Gavin Newsom is willing to go to support projects designed to ensure the long-term reliability of our imported water supplies. The governor’s soon-to-be-released Water Resilience Portfolio will describe current and future water projects that are considered priority projects for the Newsom administration, including improvements to the State Water Project, which provides roughly 25 percent of the San Bernardino Valley’s water supply.