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Water District’s Investments in Independent Power Pay Off

/in , , /by /Valley Roadrunner (Valley Center, Calif.)

The Valley Center Municipal Water District’s investments over the years in independent power sources paid off this week when parts of the district were cut off by San Diego Gas & Electric implementing its shutoff protocols, but all of VCMWD’s facilities stayed powered—although four large (70 kw to 400 Kw) portable power had to be brought in to power five pump stations. This involved placing one of the 150 KW units between two pump stations as needed.

“And with those investments, water/wastewater service was sustained throughout the District service area,” concluded VCMWD Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant.

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Upgrade For Desalination Project As It Plans Private Note Placement

/in , /by /The Bond Buyer (San Diego)by Keeley Webster

Poseidon Resources received a one-notch upgrade to BBB from Fitch Ratings ahead of plans to privately place a $45 million note to finance construction of a new intake system for its desalination plant in Carlsbad, California.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the right to purchase the three-year note, expected to close in November, according to sources close to the deal.

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Mexico Pledges To Fight Cross-border Sewage Spills

/in , , /by /The Recorder (Porterville, Calif.)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico says it will rehabilitate five pumping stations in the border city of Tijuana to prevent cross-border sewage spills that have angered U.S. communities in the San Diego area.

The Foreign Relations Department said Wednesday the two countries “are in talks to sign a bilateral agreement that will establish commitments” on the issue.

The department said both countries “will commit resources to address the issue in a coordinated manner.”

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Nursery Fined For Contaminating Nearby Creek

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

The California State Water Resources Control Board announced Wednesday that a Fallbrook commercial nursery was fined $18,132 for violating local wastewater discharge requirements for commercial agriculture businesses.

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, a regional partner agency of the state board, inspected Hines Growers Inc. in February, during which staff members observed waste with high quantities of nitrogen and phosphorous discharged into Rainbow Creek from a malfunctioning water recycling system.

Board inspectors also found violations of local waste discharge rules in the nursery’s water quality protection plan, which is required for commercial plant growers.

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography Gets $4.9M Grant to Find Cause of Deadly Algae Blooms

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Bradley J. Fikes

Harmful algae blooms periodically erupt off the West Coast, injuring or killing marine mammals and costing fisheries millions. To better understand and predict these blooms, UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography has been awarded a $4.9 million federal grant. The five-year grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was announced Monday. It’s intended to shed light on why algae in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia sometimes produce the neurotoxin domoic acid.

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Artwork From 4 Area Students to be Featured in 2020 ‘Water is Life’ Calendar

/in , /by /La Cañada Valley Sunby Valley Sun Staff

Four students living within the Foothill Municipal Water District service area were named finalists in this year’s “Water is Life” art contest. Their works made the final selection of 36 drawings that will be included in the 2020 Metropolitan Water District of Southern California calendar. Crescenta Valley High School ninth-grader Heidy Hur, La Cañada High School 7/8 student Jacqueline Lee, Paradise Canyon Elementary School second-grade student Reya Etman and La Cañada Elementary School first-grader Isabella McArthur wowed the judges with their creative works of art urging water conservation.

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Padre Dam’s Ambitious Drinking Water Recycling Project to Get Federal Funding

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

The Padre Dam Municipal Water District announced Tuesday that its East County Advanced Water Purification project was selected to apply for nearly $350 million in federal funding. The water purification project is expected to create a sustainable municipal water supply through purification of east San Diego County’s recycled water, according to district officials. The project is scheduled for completion in 2025 and could generate up to 11.5 million gallons of drinking water per day, roughly 30% of east county’s drinking water demand.

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Garamendi Water Infrastructure Bill Passes Committee

/in , /by /The Reporterby Nick Sestanovich

A bill by Rep. John Garamendi, D-Solano, to support local wastewater treatment and water recycling infrastructure projects unanimously passed the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Tuesday. The bill is part of House Resolution 1497, which aims to reauthorize the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Garamendi’s bill aims to extend the maximum term for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System issued under the federal Clean Water Act from five to 10 years.

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Salton Sea Authority Honors Bruce Wilcox for Years of Service

/in , , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Salton Sea Authority honored out-going Assistant Secretary of Salton Sea Policy Bruce Wilcox during the Authority’s October 24 board meeting. Wilcox was at the meeting when the Authority’s Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution recognizing his efforts to improve the Salton Sea.

He was appointed to serve as assistant secretary within the California Natural Resources Agency in 2015 and assigned to work on Salton Sea restoration efforts. His appointment followed the formation of the Salton Sea Task Force.

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Fitch Boosts Desalination Plant Bond Rating

/in , /by /Water News Network Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Bonds from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and pipeline were upgraded to BBB and given a stable outlook in a new report from Fitch Ratings, affirming the project’s sound 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 plant of its kind in the nation, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant’s stability stems from an effective collaboration between Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority.

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