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North Park Business Suffers As City Fails To Fix Leak

When Carol Shamon noticed water from city pipes had leaked into the basement of her North Park neighborhood business, she thought the problem would be easily fixed: Call the city and file a report. Repairs would be made, problem solved. But after two years of municipal inaction, the water remains and Shamon, who is now suing the city of San Diego’s pipe contractor, worries the foundation of her 100-year-old building may be affected. “I contacted all the departments,” said Shamon, 61, owner of Shamon Freitas Agency at 3916 Oregon St. “Everyone individually has been nice but their hands are tied, they can’t do anything because they can’t coordinate with any other department and no one does anything.”

OPINION: Wetlands Restoration On Mission Bay Is More Important Than Ever

The last several years have seen a deluge of news about infrastructure in San Diego. Whether it’s the future of the stadium site in Mission Valley, the extension of the Blue Line trolley to UCSD, or the push among urbanists to revolutionize housing in our city, refining our development footprint has taken up a sizable volume of bandwidth in our civic conversation.

County’s Wet, Weird May Was Wonderful Out On The Farm

It was wet, but it wasn’t San Diego’s wettest May. In fact, it didn’t crack the city’s top 10. It was cool, but many other Mays have been cooler, including last year. But May 2019 was certainly among the city’s all-time weirdest. And to San Diego County’s $1.77 billion agricultural industry, it was nothing short of wonderful. “We haven’t had a recent May where we’ve had something like this,” National Weather Service forecaster Miguel Miller said. “In the 20 years I’ve been here, I cannot think of another May that was inclement the entire month.”

Two Agencies Want To Secede From The San Diego County Water Authority

Water rates in San Diego are some of the highest in the country. So, two rural San Diego water agencies just came up with a novel way to save money: Buy water from Riverside County instead. Leaders of two water agencies that serve about 50,000 people in and around Fallbrook are fed up with rising costs at the San Diego County Water Authority. Local water agencies from across the region formed the Water Authority in 1944 to import water into the county from rivers hundreds of miles away. But, just in time for the Water Authority’s 75th anniversary, its future as the region’s main water supplier is in question.

OPINION: Enjoy Our Agricultural Bounty

The northern San Diego County region plays a big part in making California the nation’s leading agricultural state. Locally grown crops that include avocados, citrus, strawberries, grapes and cut flowers have put San Diego in the top tier of the nation’s agricultural counties. According to the San Diego County Farm Bureau, San Diego is the 10th largest farm economy out of more than 3,000 counties nationwide.

Naturalists Say Changing Water Levels At Lake Hodges Are Disrupting Nesting

A coalition of wildlife and conservation groups has contacted the City of San Diego with concerns about sudden changes in water levels at Lake Hodges that are destroying spring nesting sites for Western and Clark’s grebes. Lake Hodges is a city-owned water storage facility that has become a prime nesting location for the large aquatic birds. Spring nesting season attracts birders from all over to monitor and observe the courting, nesting and rearing of chicks. Grebes build their nests on partially submerged sticks and branches at water level. Brian Caldwell is a resident of Del Dios, a neighborhood adjacent to the lake and operator of Lake Hodges Photo Tours.

California Native Garden Wins Helix’s 2019 Landscape Contest

Matt and Lauren Kirkpatrick of La Mesa are this year’s winner of the Helix Water District’s ‘WaterSmart Landscape Contest,’ an annual competition recognizing outstanding water-wise residential landscapes based on overall attractiveness, design, efficient irrigation and appropriate plant selection and maintenance. Compared to the thirsty turf in the Kirkpatricks’ previous landscaping, the growing, colorful and entirely native new landscaping requires much less water and creates a place of inspiration and peace for these outdoor enthusiasts. Over the two-month billing period ending this April, the home used just 13 units of water, which is almost 40 percent less than the average water use of other Helix customers. One unit is 748 gallons.

Report: Carlsbad Desalination Plant Bought For $1B

The massive desalination plant in Carlsbad that accounts for about 10 percent of the drinkable water in San Diego County is reportedly about to be sold for more than $1 billion to a subsidiary of an investment company based in Scotland, but the San Diego County Water Authority it does not expect a potential sale to affect customers in the area. Bloomberg News on Thursday quoted “people with knowledge of the matter” who said an affiliate of Aberdeen Standard Investments, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, is about to buy the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant and the deal may be announced as soon.

Trenchless Technology Saves Ratepayers Time, Money, And Inconvenience

A method of replacing sewer pipe without digging or removing the old pipe – trenchless pipe repair – is saving Vallecitos Water District ratepayers money and reducing traffic delays. It’s another example of how water agencies in San Diego County are tapping cost-effective technology. The district is using the trenchless method to extend the life of its service pipelines while avoiding the disruption of excavation trenches and traffic rerouting around work areas on public streets. Instead of digging the pipeline up to replace it, the sewer line is rehabilitated from inside the pipe.

Opinion: San Diego’s Climate Goals Require More Investment in Energy Storage

Last year, California raised the stakes in the fight against climate change, instituting a goal of reaching 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045, with at least 60 percent of that power coming from renewable sources such as wind and solar.

And more than a year before the state did so, the city of San Diego made a pioneering commitment to achieving its own goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, as outlined in the city’s Climate Action Plan.