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Vallecitos Water District Urges Water Restrictions During Pipeline Repair

The Vallecitos Water District is asking its customers to adopt water restrictions next month, when a major water distribution line will be out of service during repairs. “As a result of the shutdown, the water supplied to the District may be limited,” the district stated. The shutdown is scheduled to begin Monday, Sept. 9, and will run for about 10 days, but those dates may be adjusted according to the severity of the leak, or hot weather conditions. During that period, the district is asking customers to adopt voluntary restrictions. It also advises them to deep-soak their groves and landscaping by or before Sunday, Sept. 8, in preparation for the shutdown.

New Tool Allows For Faster Water Quality Tests

San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health announced improvements to its water quality testing program Thursday, just ahead of the busy Labor Day weekend. A new testing tool allows officials to speed up the process of testing water samples for potentially dangerous levels of bacteria. Before implementing the new method at the beginning of the summer, it took up to 96 hours to process test results and alert beachgoers about bacteria levels. Now, the officials have results back within 24 hours. “That gives us the ability to get the information out to the public faster and let people know where it’s safe to swim,” said Lars Seifert, Land and Water Quality Division Chief for the County’s Department of Environmental Health.

San Diego’s Water Rates Go Up On Sunday

The City of San Diego is reminding its water customers that starting Sunday they will be paying more for water.

The price customers pay will be going up 4.82 percent to help pay for water reliability and infrastructure improvements. When combined with a 1.46 percent increase implemented by the San Diego County Water Authority, the total increase starting Sept. 1 will be 6.28 percent, city officials said.

OPINION: Will Continued Sprawl or High-Density Infill Define San Diego’s Future?

There are two critical urban land use debates raging across the San Diego region today. How they play out will determine whether our region’s ecosystem becomes more resilient over the next several decades.

The disputes involve first, the future of urban sprawl in the far-flung rural suburbs of San Diego County, and, second, infill policy and increasing densities in San Diego’s urban core.

Vallecitos Water District Invokes Water Shortage Contingency Plan Level 1

The San Diego County Water Authority is preparing to launch a major project to fix a leak in Pipeline 4 in the Moosa Canyon area of Bonsall. Pipeline 4 is a 90- inch diameter pipeline that provides treated drinking water throughout San Diego County, including the Vallecitos Water District (VWD). The leak site is in a remote area with no adjacent homes or business. Pipeline 4 will be shut down for up to 10 days. The shutdown likely will start on September 9, 2019, however, these dates may be adjusted depending on the severity of the pipeline leak or dangerous weather conditions, such as Santa Ana winds or Red Flag warnings.

California Moves To Boost Recycled Water

A new plan recommends four strategies to advance water reuse in California over the next three decades – an important part of both the state and regional water resilience portfolio.

The California WateReuse Action Plan includes a comprehensive set of proposed actions that will more than double the use of water recycling in California and help prepare the state for the impacts of climate change, according to WateReuse California, which released the plan in July.

As Salton Sea Shrinks, Experts Fear Far-Reaching Health Consequences

In the string of small farm towns that stretches south from California’s Salton Sea toward the border with Mexico, pretty much everyone knows someone with asthma.

As many as three of every 10 people report having the disease in places like Brawley, Calipatria and Westmorland — compared with about one of 10 in California as a whole. Bronchitis is also common, and many residents complain about coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath

UC San Diego Launches Study On Recycling EV Batteries Into Energy Storage

Cummins, a manufacturing company, on Tuesday announced a multiyear partnership with the University of California (UC) San Diego and its battery validation lab to analyze viable business applications and technical approaches to reuse and repurpose electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The partnership will focus solely on lithium-ion batteries and is one of the first projects to exclusively study second-life battery capabilities that were designed for commercial applications, Cummins said.​

Wastewater Treatment Startup Secures Funding

Aquacycl, a San Diego-based wastewater technology startup, announced Wednesday that it has closed a $4 million seed round that will help the company scale its manufacturing processes and expand its sales efforts.

The investment round was led by The Roddenberry Foundation, with participation from existing and new angel investors and impact funds, according to a news release.

Colder Waters Off West Coast Mark End Of “The Blob”

Record high Pacific Ocean temperatures recorded off the West Cost in recent years have receded to near normal, according to a report on the California Current.

That cool shift marks the end of “the blob,” the mass of warm water that dominated the West Coast, and of the El Nino event that followed. It’s unclear, however, what that means for fish and marine mammals, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated in the 2019 ecosystem status report for the California Current Ecosystem.