It was an honor to join over 160 business and political leaders from the San Diego Region for the 2019 Mission to DC. Sponsored by the San Diego Chamber, I was able to attend meetings with the EPA, State Department and several congress members as well as network with area leaders.
San Diego took several steps this week to boost the accuracy of water bills, improve customer satisfaction and speed up the installation of digital “smart” meters.
The changes come after public outcry in 2017 and 2018 over exorbitant water bills received by many customers which city officials blamed on faulty meters, employee errors and mismanagement in the Public Utilities Department.
The potential reorganization in which the Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District would detach from the San Diego County Water Authority and become part of the Eastern Municipal Water District will require approval from San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, but Riverside County’s LAFCO has agreed to let the process be conducted entirely by San Diego County’s LAFCO.
The San Diego County Water Authority presented its 2019 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for significantly reducing its overall potable water use through a successful water conservation program and new infrastructure for distributing reclaimed water.
MCAS Miramar embarked on a water conservation program about a decade ago, and through a $6 million investment, MCAS Miramar decreased its potable water use by more than 40 percent since 2007. In 2015, the commanding officer formed a water conservation board tasked with reducing the base’s overall potable water use.
As September and the rainfall year wound down, Michael Candra needed a perfect storm — a perfectly light, minor storm.
Early Saturday morning, San Diego’s season total stood at 12.83 inches. At that point, Candra was in fifth place in the Union-Tribune’s 17th annual Precipitation Prediction Contest, which drew more than 500 entrants. Each year, we ask the locals to predict how much rain San Diego will receive from the start of the water year Oct. 1 to the end on Sept. 30.
Candra, 41, had predicted of 12.89 inches. Two people had predicted 12.85, one had 12.86 and another 12.87.
Were San Diego on its own, there wouldn’t be enough water to go around. Only about 5 percent of urban San Diego’s water comes from local rainfall, an almost meaningless amount that wouldn’t support our region’s 3 million residents.
The San Diego County Water Authority today presented its 2019 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for significantly reducing its overall potable water use.
The reduction was achieved through a successful water conservation program and new infrastructure for distributing reclaimed water. The award was announced at the Industrial Environmental Association’s 35th Annual Environmental Conference at the San Diego Convention Center.
The award is part of the Water Authority’s Brought to You by Water outreach and education program, and an effort to recognize water-efficiency investments among the region’s top industries and organizations in conjunction with the IEA.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law new legislation to further prevent the exposure of harmful chemicals and sewage into the Tijuana River Valley.
People flock to a Chula Vista parking lot to fill up jugs with water from a colorful kiosk owned by Colorado-based Watermill Express.
The company is one of several competing for customers suspicious of city tap water and fed up with buying bottled water.
Watermill, which runs a few dozen water vending machines across San Diego County, typically pays about $4,000 for the water that comes into its machines – city tap water that must meet state and federal water quality standards to begin with.
