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Water Authority Seeks Statewide Solution To Drinking Water Woes

/in , , /by /Water News Network

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors on March 28 threw its support behind a coordinated statewide approach to ensure that all communities in California have daily access to safe, reliable drinking water. The California State Water Resources Control Board has identified 329 water systems statewide that serve contaminated drinking water or cannot provide reliable water service due to unsound infrastructure or lack of resources. Most of the systems are in rural areas and serve fewer than 10,000 people.

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Plan Unveiled To Cut Borrego Springs Water Consumption By 75 Percent

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union Tribune by Harry Jones

For years, the desert town of Borrego Springs has been living on borrowed time, drawing more water from the ground than its rains replace. But a reckoning is near. In March, a nearly 1,000-page draft report was released outlining how the community must and will reduce its water use by a staggering 74.6 percent between now and 2040. Borrego Springs is completely dependent on groundwater for survival because there is no economically feasible way to bring water via aqueduct or pipes to the remote area in the center of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the largest state park in California.

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Olivenhain Tries Desalinating Groundwater

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

Construction starts this month on a $1.5 million test well to show whether desalinated groundwater could supplement the drinking water supply for 86,000 customers of the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. The district serves parts of Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Diego, San Marcos, Solana Beach and neighboring communities, and relies almost entirely on water imported from the Colorado River and Northern California. Like agencies throughout Southern California, it’s looking for ways to diversify its water supply.

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Costa Mesa High School Environmental Science Students Collect Samples, Data In The Back Bay

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Lilly Nguyen

After months of research, Costa Mesa High School environmental science students returned to the Newport Beach Back Bay Science Center Tuesday to gather final data in their examinations of biodiversity in and along the estuary. The Advanced Placement students formed teams of three to five and in October began researching water quality, mud invertebrates, avian migration and other subjects. Though teachers provided a list of potential topics, students were given the opportunity to “[find] their way toward something that interests them,” said Cristen Rasmussen, an AP environmental science teacher at the high school.

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East County Advanced Water Purification Project On Track For 2025

/in , /by /Water News Network

The East County Advanced Water Purification Project is moving forward toward its anticipated completion date after the Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors approved the required environmental report.“The approval of the environmental report for this project brings us another step closer to producing a local water supply for East County and improving the reliability of the water service for our community,” said Allen Carlisle, Padre Dam CEO/General Manager. “We are on track for the project to begin providing water to the East San Diego communities by 2025.”

 

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Feast For Eyes And Palate: Dining Amid The Flower Fields At Carlsbad Ranch

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

The abundance of winter rain produced bigger, earlier blooms at The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. Starting Thursday, an event will try to make the most of the 13 colors of ranunculus and area businesses. Organized by Visit Carlsbad, the third annual Petal to Plate runs through Sunday, April 14, partnering with area resorts, spas, restaurants and breweries. Guests are invited to tour the fields and taste the delights of spring back in town with participating bars and restaurants, including Cape Rey Carlsbad, a Hilton Resort, Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Barrel Republic and Park 101.

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Politicos Ask For $100.4 Million To Help Rebuild Whittier Narrows Dam Before A Breach Endangers 23 Cities

/in , /by /Pasadena Star-Newsby Steve Scauzillo

Frustrated by continual delays in refurbishing the Whittier Narrows Dam, U.S. Rep. Grace Napolitano summoned the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to her office in Washington D.C. last week. Her tete-a-tete with Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite produced the same refrain the agency has been telling the 1 million people threatened by flooding if the eroding dam were to fail: The $500 million project will be completed in 2025 — at the soonest. Not satisfied, Napolitano, D-El Monte, who is 82, said she’s been working on getting the Army Corps to hasten the project for the last 12 years and wondered if she’d be alive by the time it gets finished.

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Mild Week Ahead, With Light Rain Possible On The Weekend

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Robert Krier

Another powerful storm is expected to barrel into California later this week, but once again, San Diego should be on the southern fringe and get very little rain. In the meantime, mild weather is forecast for the workweek in San Diego County, with minor fluctuations in temperature and the reach of the low clouds. Up north, it’s a different story. An extremely wet storm, with seven times the amount of moisture usually seen this time of year, is expected to pound the Bay Area Thursday through Saturday with a couple inches of rain. National Weather Service forecaster Joe Dandrea said the Sierra could get 4 to 6 inches — a welcome, late-season addition to the state’s water supply after a subpar winter.

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OPINION: Reject Latest Effort To Undermine Needed Local Water Projects

/in , /by /The Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.)by Steven Figueroa

Infrastructure projects that secure California’s future are being pursued every day in our great state. For better or worse, California is known to have the toughest environmental review laws in the nation with its CEQA framework that can impact these projects. CEQA has been roundly criticized over the years given the extent of its requirements and the legal challenges it allows — killing or delaying good projects that could create well-paying jobs and needed affordable resources for working families. In recent years, the Legislature, recognizing the impediment CEQA can be to needed infrastructure, has moved bills that try to reform CEQA or that grant exemptions from it.

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March Blossomed Across San Diego County

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Robert Krier

Forget March madness. For nature lovers and hikers on the thousands of miles of trails in San Diego County, there was March gladness. Wildflowers flourished. Poppies populated the green hillsides, and lilacs and lupines scented the air. Butterflies flitted in swarms from Carlsbad, to Escondido to Borrego Springs. The bugs will be back later this spring, although some may not be as dainty and welcome as the painted lady butterflies that still have plenty of nectar to feast on. “This is an incredible year – absolutely,” said Richard Miller, the chapter director of the San Diego Sierra Club. “This year we’re seeing flowers we have rarely seen before – like 10 years or more.”

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