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Environment Report: What The Super Bloom Says About Backcountry Development

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

People are scrambling to find the so-called “super bloom” flowers in the far reaches of Southern California. People have taken off for the Anza-Borrego Desert or, less exotically, parked along the shoulder of Interstate 15 to photograph themselves serenely sitting in a flower patch by a six-lane highway. Getting out there is a healthy reminder that so much of San Diego County – 4,200 square miles of it – is undeveloped. It’s a bit amazing to stand in the dusty, often barren Anza-Borrego only to look up at the mountains and realize that 90 miles west is the country’s eighth-largest city and the world’s largest ocean.

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San Dieguito River Conservancy Cleaning Up Watershed

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Deborah Sullivan Brennan

The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy is eradicating invasive weeds from the river course, and replacing them with native plants, in order to control fire risk and and improve the natural habitat. The restoration project covers almost 95 acres, and takes place along a 2.5-mile stretch of the San Dieguito River between Fairbanks Ranch and Rancho Santa Fe. That area is part of an ongoing revegetation program to improve the streamside environment.

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OPINION: California Water Tax Plan Is Back — And Newsom’s Version Is The Worst Yet

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Two years ago, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board opposed a bill that would add a maximum 95-cents fee to the monthly bills of all but low-income water customers to help pay for water infrastructure improvements in some 300 communities with about 1 million residents. These residents, clustered in agricultural areas in the Central Valley, have to rely on unsafe water supplies.

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Environment Report: What The Super Bloom Says About Backcountry Development

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

People are scrambling to find the so-called “super bloom” flowers in the far reaches of Southern California. People have taken off for the Anza-Borrego Desert or, less exotically, parked along the shoulder of Interstate 15 to photograph themselves serenely sitting in a flower patch by a six-lane highway. Getting out there is a healthy reminder that so much of San Diego County – 4,200 square miles of it – is undeveloped. It’s a bit amazing to stand in the dusty, often barren Anza-Borrego only to look up at the mountains and realize that 90 miles west is the country’s eighth-largest city and the world’s largest ocean.

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A Local Water Board Paid An Employee Not To Work There. Now He’s On The Board.

/in , /by /The Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Five years ago, the Sweetwater Authority paid one of its engineers $175,000 to drop a lawsuit against the water district if he agreed to never work there again. Now, the engineer, Hector Martinez, is one of seven board members in charge of running the district. He also has ties to a former board member who, years earlier, was paid in exchange for leaving the district’s board. In 2014, the district paid to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit Martinez filed against Sweetwater, which provides drinking water to National City and parts of Chula Vista. Martinez claimed the district didn’t give him a promotion in 2008 because he is Hispanic.

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How California Is Defying Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

California is building walls at its borders — they’re just not the kind President Trump has in mind. As the Trump administration continues its assault on environmental regulation, state officials are throwing up legal barriers to some high-stakes attacks. They are preparing to strengthen safeguards for waterways that are about to lose federal protections in a major rollback of the Clean Water Act. They are refusing to issue permits the federal government needs to build a controversial dam project that would drown portions of a Northern California river renowned for its wild trout fishery.

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Water Authority Projects Pinched By Labor Shortage, Rising Cost Of Construction Materials

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Toni McAllister Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

A shortage of construction workers coupled with higher prices for materials used in construction are driving up costs for San Diego County Water Authority’s infrastructure and maintenance projects, the agency is warning. During a Water Authority Board of Directors’ Engineering and Operations Committee meeting held earlier this month, Gary Bousquet, the agency’s deputy director of engineering, told attendees: “The Water Authority will monitor market trends and adjust individual project budgets as required. Our planning process includes prioritizing projects and evaluating the timing or need and scope of projects. We will adjust our project cost estimates to meet changing market conditions.”

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Heavy Rainfall Could Expedite Erosion Of San Diego’s Coastal, Inland Cliffs

/in , /by /10 News (San Diego)by Mark Saunders

Several recent storms to hit the San Diego County region could spell disaster for erosion prone areas of the coast and inland valleys. Rainfall running over coastal bluffs with a history of erosion could increase the likelihood of future erosions along our shores. Adam Young, a scientist with Scripps Institution of Oceanography San Diego, says an active season already could led to more crumbling of local cliff sides following heavy showers. “Pretty much whenever you have a new rainfall event, you’ll pretty much see a new landslide … The more rain we get, the more landslides,” Young says. “Every time you have a failure, stress distribution can change.”

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Coronado Considers Building $24 Million Sewage Treatment Plant

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gustavo Solis

Coronado wants to stop using drinkable water to irrigate its municipal golf course. And it is willing to spend millions to do that. On Tuesday, the City Council asked staff to move forward with a proposal to build a $24 million sewage treatment facility on the Coronado Golf Course. Between debt payments and maintenance and operating costs, the plant will operate at a deficit for at least the first 14 years of operation and won’t break even for 30 or 35 years.

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Oceanside Takes Control Of Water Destiny, Preparing To Purify Recycled Water

/in , /by /10 News (San Diego)by Amanda Brandeis

The City of Oceanside is taking control of its water destiny, investing in a facility to purify recycled water from homes. “It’s not being used, it’s really a waste. A lot of that water is going out to the ocean and it’s really a precious resource,” said Cari Dale, Water Utilities Director for the city. This Fall they’ll break ground on the Pure Water Oceanside facility, which will sit right next to the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility. The process uses state-of-the-art water purification steps that replicate and accelerate nature’s natural recycling process. The facility will create between 3 and 5 million gallons per day of high-quality drinking water for the Oceanside community.

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