Last week, watching an erroneous news story on a Los Angeles TV station, many listeners were shocked to learn that a new state law would limit them to 55 gallons per day indoor water use; and that they could face $1,000 penalties for laundering and showering on the same day.
The news story was wrong, but not THAT wrong.
The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) sent a comprehensive settlement offer to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) last month that would end nearly a decade of ongoing litigation over rates between the two agencies.
For over a year, SDCWA had been meeting in confidential settlement discussions with MWD to find an equitable resolution to litigation over MWD’s rates.
Northern Nevada’s snowpack is starting the new year strong, but officials warn it will take several more significant storms this winter to replenish area reservoirs.
The Natural Resource Conservation Service says its first snowpack survey of 2020 at the Mt. Rose SNOTEL site southwest of Reno Monday showed average snowpack for the date but below-average precipitation.
NRCS hydrologist Jeff Anderson says the snow depth of 54 inches (137 centimeters) was 107% of the median. The 16-inch (40-centimeter) water content was 72% of median.
County environmental health officials Tuesday lifted the closure of coastal waters along the Imperial Beach shoreline after water testing found it safe for recreational use.
The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health regularly issues water-contact closures north of the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge and Border Field State Park when rainfall causes sewage-contaminated water in the Tijuana River to flow into U.S. waterways.
North San Diego County fire agencies teamed up in November with the Vallecitos Water District for confined space training drills. The drills, held over a two-week period, prepare firefighting professionals to respond to emergencies in facilities such as wastewater treatment plants and maintain their confined space certification.
EL CENTRO — If Imperial County Superior Court Judge L. Brooks Anderholt rules that Imperial Irrigation District violated a previous ruling by agreeing to provide an extra 500 acre-feet of water to the Heber Geothermal plant, that decision could cost the district $3.6 million and then some.
POWAY — A piece of rope “inexplicably” became lodged in a valve separating a 10-million gallon reservoir from a storm drain in late November, causing a nearly week-long, costly boil-water advisory in Poway, a report prepared by the city for the state concludes.
Officials say it is unknown how the sizable piece of rope got stuck in the valve, which was supposed to remain closed but instead became stuck open, thereby allowing muddy water to enter the city’s reservoir — called a clearwell — near Lake Poway during a storm.
Three California state agencies today released a draft water resilience portfolio intended to help the state manage more extreme droughts and floods, aging infrastructure, declining fish populations and other challenges.
The California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Food and Agriculture developed the draft to fulfill Governor Gavin Newsom’s April 29, 2019 executive order calling for a portfolio of actions to ensure the state’s long-term water resilience and ecosystem health.
“The portfolio approach to water supply reliability is a significant advance in how our most precious resource is managed statewide, in line with our long-term strategy in San Diego County,” said Sandra L. Kerl, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority. “As we review the details of the new plan, we will continue collaborating with the state agencies and other partners to turn this vision into a reality that benefits our region.”
A longtime water conservation advocate says Arizona and the other Lower Colorado River Basin states need to cut their water use more and faster.
Sustainable Waters president Brian Richter says Arizona, California, and Nevada need to slash total water use by 18% from their 2000-2018 average to bring Lakes Mead and Powell into a long-term state of balance, the Arizona Daily Star reports. He says the decrease would push the river’s falling reservoirs into sustainability.
It started with last month’s heavy rains that brought an unprecedented volume of debris tumbling down Tijuana’s Matadero Canyon: old mattresses, used furniture, discarded construction material. That led to a clogged storm drain by the border fence, authorities said, and the flooding of a nearby sewage pump station.
The resulting pool of trash and sewage-contaminated water has now been raising fears in San Diego.
