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California Scientists Study Climate Change at Bottom of the Ocean

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

California researchers have found that oxygen levels and water temperatures play a key role in the health of deep-sea fish populations. San Diego and Monterey Bay scientists studied fish on the floor of the Gulf of California.

“This is an example of some of the video that we are analyzing for this research,” said Natalya Gallo, a post-doctoral researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

She pointed to footage taken along the seafloor on the Gulf of California near the Mexican coast. The pictures come from a remotely controlled submarine. Researchers use the underwater tool to gauge the impact of a warming ocean on fish.

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San Diego Would Suffer Catastrophic Damage if Rose Canyon Fault Produces 6.9 Earthquake

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

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake on San Diego’s Rose Canyon Fault could damage 100,000 residences, cause widespread road and bridge failures, and make parts of Mission Bay sink about a foot, according to the most detailed disaster scenario ever done on the region.

Such a temblor could also cut gas and water service between La Jolla and the Silver Strand for months, collapse key municipal buildings, and close the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, says a report by the San Diego chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. Parts of the fault would rupture the Earth’s surface and shift the landscape 6 to 7 feet, damaging streets so badly it would make it hard for police, firefighters and paramedics to get around.

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Opinion: Poseidon Desalination Would Worsen Environmental Injustice in Orange County

/in , /by /Voice of OCby Adriana Maestas

What would California be without the beach? I grew up in Irvine with an awareness of how fortunate we are to live near the ocean. As a child, my parents and babysitters took me and my brother to Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach frequently during the summer. I have many happy memories of enjoying the waves at “our beaches” while bodysurfing, building sandcastles, and seeing fish, anemones, sandcrabs, dolphins and jellyfish! We also took school field trips to Crystal Cove to learn about the ecosystem. These experiences taught me to respect the ocean and to understand that it is alive, a home for sea life and people.

That’s why it’s upsetting that our regional water board is moving closer to issuing permits for a project near my hometown that will harm our ocean, make us more vulnerable to climate change, and make our drinking water more expensive. The project is a massive ocean water desalination plant being proposed by a global corporation called Poseidon that has its sights on Huntington Beach.

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San Diego’s Sutherland Reservoir in Ramona Reopening to Public on Friday

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewen

The city of San Diego’s Sutherland Reservoir will reopen for boating, fishing, hiking and picnicking three days each week beginning on Friday.

The reservoir, located 45 miles northeast of San Diego, will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from sunrise to sunset, and on the Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day holidays. It’s closed the third Friday of each month.

The recreation area has barbecues, picnic tables and restrooms. Dogs are allowed on leashes. Water activities including boating, canoeing, kayaking, sailboarding and float tubing are allowed on Saturdays and Sundays.

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Projects Create Wetlands, Improve Water Quality in San Diego Region

/in , , /by /Water News Networkby Ed Joyce Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Since 2005, the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Program has supported and funded water conservation, water quality and resource projects throughout San Diego County.

Program partners, including staff of the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies, the California Department of Water Resources, and regional water industry leaders, met at the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College Monday to celebrate 15 years of achievements.

The program facilitates collaboration on water resources planning and projects in the region by water retailers, wastewater agencies, stormwater and flood managers, watershed groups, the business community, tribes, agriculture, and nonprofit stakeholders.

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CWA Approves Shutdown Schedule for Pipeline 5 Work at Moosa Creek

/in , , /by /Village News by Joe Naiman Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

In 2019, the San Diego County Water Authority repaired a leak to a pipeline in Moosa Canyon. That repair was followed by an assessment of the other two SDCWA pipelines in the area, and one of those was found to be at risk so the CWA will be making repairs to that pipeline.

A CWA board vote, Feb. 27, authorized CWA general manager Sandra Kerl to take the necessary contracting and other actions for the repairs on Pipeline 5 in Moosa Creek. The current schedule includes shutdowns March 30 through April 5 for the installation of isolation bulkheads and May 18 to May 24 for the removal of the bulkheads as well as carbon fiber lining work expected April 6 through May 15.

May 24 is the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and the actual shutdown schedule will likely be revised as the repair work progresses.

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California Wants Feds to Address Cross-Border Sewage

/in , , /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

State water pollution regulators in San Diego are asking federal officials to do more monitoring of cross-border water flows that could be polluted.

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board issued an investigative order in February that requires more monitoring of sewage-tainted cross-border flows.

The order requires the International Boundary and Water Commission to monitor more than a dozen locations over an 18-month period.

Regional Board Executive Director David Gibson said the order also calls for the testing results to be made public.

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San Diego County’s War Over Roundup

/in , /by /San Diego Readerby Sheila Pell

It’s everywhere, taking over like the weeds it’s meant to kill. Now glyphosate, the bestselling weedbuster of all time, has become a pest.

“Everybody in this room has glyphosate and other components in Roundup in their body,” said Dave Schubert, a researcher at Salk Institute who spoke in favor of a ban last week that supervisors have proposed for the unincorporated county.

Around the country, tens of thousands of lawsuits target glyphosate-based herbicides which homeowners, groundskeepers and others say caused their cancer. Heavy use of the chemical in agriculture has promoted superweeds, and is suspected of harming pollinators like honeybees.

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Putting a Price on the Protective Power of Wetlands

/in , , /by /PHYS.orgby University of California, San Diego

In coastal communities prone to hurricanes and tropical storms, people typically turn to engineered solutions for protection: levees, sea walls and the like. But a natural buffer in the form of wetlands may be the more cost-effective solution, according to new research from the University of California San Diego.

In the most comprehensive study of its sort to date, UC San Diego economists show that U.S. counties with more wetlands experienced substantially less property damage from hurricanes and tropical storms over a recent 20-year period than those with fewer wetlands.

Pipeline Project: Completed or to be Continued?

/in , , /by /Ramona Sentinel by Julie Gallant

A large water pipe repair effort may have gone bust, at least temporarily, at the project site near Rangeland and Highland Valley roads. The project is intended to install new pipe under the Santa Maria Creek to connect to an existing pipe after it broke last year.

The Ramona Municipal Water District (RMWD) awarded the contract to Capriati Construction Corp. of Henderson, Nev., with unanimous approval of the district’s board of directors on March 12, 2019. The contract bid was $348,915.

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