SOUTH COUNTY — For the first time in 11 years, the Sweetwater Authority has started to flush out all 400 miles of its pipelines across South County. Commonly referred to as flushing, because built-up sediments are “flushed out,” the system-wide cleaning is a promise the water agency made to its ratepayers last year as it put together a plan to increase rates over the next five years.
The Senate approved almost $20 million in funding to address sewage flows along the border. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who secured language in three different appropriations bills for the 2020 fiscal year, called the spills that send millions of gallons of raw sewage from Tijuana to San Diego, “unacceptable.”
The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant maintains an investment grade rating in the latest report from Fitch Ratings, affirming the plant’s sound financial management and its ability to provide a stable, reliable source of drinking water to the San Diego region. As the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient desalination plant in the nation, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant’s revenue stability stems from an effective collaboration between Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority.
The San Diego County Water Authority presented its 2019 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for significantly reducing its overall potable water use through a successful water conservation program and new infrastructure for distributing reclaimed water.
A recent news release posted on the Voice of OC website was clouded by mischaracterizations of the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, which provides an important source of drinking water for San Diego County and reduces our region’s reliance on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta.
The plant is the result of a historic public-private partnership between the San Diego County Water Authority and Poseidon Water to ensure supply reliability for more than 3 million residents across the region. It helped to ensure that the Water Authority had sufficient water to meet demand during the last drought, and we are confident it will help us weather the next drought … and the one after that.
It was a Sunday tradition at Bethany Slavic Missionary Church. After morning services, Florin Ciuriuc joined the line of worshipers waiting to fill their jugs with gallons of free drinking water from a well on the property, a practice church leaders had encouraged.
“I take it for my office every week,” said Ciuriuc, a 50-year-old Romanian immigrant and a founding member of the largely Russian-speaking church, which claims 7,000 congregants.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized the San Diego County Water Authority with a 2019 WaterSense Excellence Award for advancing water efficiency through its Qualified Water Efficient Landscape program, known as QWEL. The Water Authority received one of 25 WaterSense awards at the national WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas.
Carlsbad is preparing to launch an “aggressive” effort, including the widespread application of a chemical herbicide, to eradicate the invasive plant Ward’s weed from about 200 acres where it has taken root in several of the city’s habitat preserves.
A native of the Mediterranean region, the species’ first North American appearance was in Carlsbad’s Rancho La Costa Preserve in 2008. Since then, the plant has spread to the undeveloped habitat management areas east of El Camino Real between Palomar Airport Road and Alga Road.
The Earth’s coastal and polar areas are on thin ice, a new climate report warns, but San Diego may be in a better place than others to weather those changes if it acts swiftly, several authors said.
“The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate,” released last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, explored the effects of warming on the world’s oceans and frozen places.
The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for most of extreme southwestern California starting late Wednesday evening and lasting through 8 p.m. Friday evening.
This prompted Southern California Edison to expand the area that could have power cut as a fire-safety measure — affecting as many as 106,000 customers.
Low humidity of 5% to 10% and strong, gusty Santa Ana winds are to blame for the elevated fire risk along coastal mountain slopes and inland valleys. East to northeast winds will reach speeds of 20 to 30 mph, with gusts of 35 to 50 mph, and isolated gusts of up to 60 mph.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
