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Nevada Snowpack Starts Strong, Water Content Below Average

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

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.

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County Lifts Water Contact Closure In Imperial Beach

/in , /by /Fox 5 San Diego by City News Service

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.

 

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Vallecitos Water District Training Preps Firefighters for Wastewater Plant Emergencies

/in , , /by /Water News Network

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.

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$3.6 Million Hangs in the Balance in IID Contempt Case

/in , /by /Imperial Valley Pressby Michael Maresh

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.

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Rope ‘Inexplicably’ Caused Poway Water Problems; Claims Filed Seeking Compensation

/in , , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones

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.

California Agencies Release Draft Water Resilience Portfolio

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

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.”

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Opinion: Colorado River Basin States Need to Cut Water Use

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

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.

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Trash Creates Massive Stormwater Clog in Tijuana, and Fixing it Could Mean a Mess for San Diego

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Sandra Dibble

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.

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Padre Dam Water Board Approves Raise for General Manager

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman

The five-member Padre Dam Municipal Water District Board has approved a 4 percent salary increase for its General Manager and CEO Allen Carlisle.

Carlisle, who started with the district in February 2011, saw his annual salary rise to $258,554, effective Dec. 29. The approved new rate is just over $124 hourly. With benefits, Carlisle will earn nearly $368,000 to oversee Padre Dam’s water, wastewater and recycled water, as well as recreation services at Santee Lakes.

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Opinion: Imperial Irrigation District on Path to Boost the Colorado River

/in , , /by /Desert Sun by Henry Martinez

Several weeks ago, the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors approved a resolution committing the district to doing two things on the Colorado River in the year ahead:

First, that IID will engage with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the broader river community to negotiate a successor agreement to the 2007 Interim Guidelines, which end in 2025. Second, that the district will do nothing to harm the Salton Sea.

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