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In Borrego Springs Tourism, Farming Industries Face Uncertainty With Looming Water Cuts

/in , /by /KPBS (San Diego)by Matt Hoffman

Although part of San Diego County, Borrego Springs is definitely off the beaten path. The small community is a two-hour drive from downtown San Diego. “The remoteness of ourselves — there’s no freeway coming here,” said Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce President Patrick Sampson, who is also general manager of the La Casa Del Zorro resort. “If you’re going to Borrego Springs — you’re coming to Borrego Springs.”

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Lake Hodges At Two-Thirds Capacity As Forecast Calls For More Rain

/in , /by /North Coast Current (Encinitas, Calif.)by Dan Weisman

More rain in one of San Diego County’s rainiest of winter seasons is expected to drop an inch or two across the region through Friday, but Lake Hodges Dam is holding strong. The dam last overflowed February to March 2011. It also overflowed in February 2005. However, despite a Pineapple Express of rains this season, while Lake Hodges has filled more rapidly lately, its dam looks to continue standing tall and holding firm.

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How Some Residents Of The San Gabriel Valley Can Get Free, Native Plants For Their Yards

/in , /by /San Gabriel Valley Tribuneby Tyler Shaun Evains

Some San Gabriel Valley residents may be eligible to receive $250 worth of drought-resistant plants — for free. The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District launched the region’s first residential plant voucher program last week; applications are now open, according to a press release. The program is intended to encourage people to integrate drought-tolerant plants into their landscape instead of grass lawns and other water-thirsty plant materials, according to the upper district website. The nearly 1 million people in the upper district service area use more than 78 billion gallons of water annually, according to the release.

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Photos: See LA’s Night Sky Electrified By Phenomenal Lightning Show

/in , /by /Curbed Los Angelesby Jenna Chandler

Lightning dazzled Los Angeles last night, with nearly 6,000 lightning strikes recorded over Southern California. Earth Networks, a company that uses sensors to detect lightning, observed 5,923 lighting strikes and 14,326 lightning pulses (that’s when the lightning is in a cloud and doesn’t hit the ground) from 6 p.m. to midnight. Steve Prinzivalli, a meteorologist at Earth Networks, tells Curbed that those numbers are “pretty incredible,” and climate scientist Daniel Swain on Twitter described it as the “most spectacular winter lightning display in recent memory.”

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Poway City Council Approves Water, Sewer Service Rate Increases

/in , /by /NBC 7 San Diegoby Melissa Adan

Daytime protests weren’t enough to stop the Poway City Council from approving a set of rate hikes on water and sewer services in the city. The proposal, which passed unanimously, calls for a 4.5-percent increase on the water commodity use rate, a 7.5-percent hike on the fixed water meter charge, and 3.25 percent increases on the sewer commodity rate and the sewer service charge. “What goes up never comes down in terms of taxes, or water,” Poway resident Jason Chynn said. “They just go up, up, up, and never come back down.”

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Stapleton Retires As Water Authority GM After 23 Years

/in , /by /The Daily Transcript Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Maureen A. Stapleton recently retired as general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority after 23 years in the position. Sandy Kerl, the agency’s deputy general manager, will serve as acting general manager while the Water Authority’s board of directors conducts a search for its next general manager. During Stapleton’s tenure leading the region’s water wholesale agency, she led a successful, multi-decade strategy to diversify and improve the reliability of San Diego County’s water supply, which now supports a $220 billion economy and the quality of life of 3.3 million people.

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How Has The Rain Impacted The County’s Reservoirs?

/in , /by /KPBS by Brooke Ruth and Jade Hindmon Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

It’s been a big rain year for San Diego County, and that got a Midday Edition listener wondering about the impact on the county’s reservoirs. The listener wrote in with this question: Is SD (County) doing as much as can be done to keep the varying rain amounts in, direct the rain to reservoirs? Purpose of our reservoirs? Are any reservoirs used as sources for drinking water (to be purified)? Recreation, boating & fishing, I’m guessing are the main uses. To answer those questions, Midday Edition spoke to Dana Friehauf, resource manager with the San Diego County Water Authority and Jeff Pasek, watershed manager, city of San Diego Public Utilities Department.

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Lake Hodges Good To Go At 2/3rds Capacity

/in , /by /The Escondido Grapevine

The dam has spilled and last overflowed February-to-March 2011. It also overflowed in February 2005. However, despite a small El Nino pineapple express of rains this season, while Lake Hodges has filled more rapidly lately, it looks to continue standing tall and holding firm. The lake was at 68.1 percent capacity as of this week, according to the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department that has owned and operated the reservoir and dam since purchased in 1925. Hodges Reservoir was created with the building of Hodges Dam on San Dieguito Creek in 1918.

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Sycuan Reservation Water Agreement Commemorated

/in , /by /KUSI Newsby Ed Lenderman

A historic water agreement was celebrated today on the grounds of the Sycuan Indian Reservation. While Sycuan’s new hotel is getting most of the public attention, a reliable water supply for the reservation is an even bigger achievement. Everyone involved in Monday morning’s commemoration of a water delivery agreement, reached last August between Sycuan and the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District, noted it was 10 years in the making.

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February Storms Wash Away Drought Conditions. Will San Diegans Continue To Conserve?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

February storms have left California flush with water, relieving concerns the state could quickly slip back into the drought conditions that plagued it for much of the last decade. Less than 3 percent of the state is now experiencing drought, down from nearly 84 percent just three months ago, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. At the same time, the state’s frozen reservoir of mountain snowpack is already 124 percent of average for the season.

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