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As States Near Deal On Colorado River Shortage, California Looks At Water Cuts Of As Much As 8%

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

After years of stop-and-go talks, California and two other states that take water from the lower Colorado River are nearing an agreement on how to share delivery cuts if a formal shortage is declared on the drought-plagued waterway. Under the proposed pact, California — the river’s largest user — would reduce diversions earlier in a shortage than it would if the lower-basin states strictly adhered to a water-rights pecking order. California’s huge river take would drop 4.5% to 8% as the shortage progressed.

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Gov. Brown Names 3 To San Diego River Conservancy Governing Board

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

Gov. Jerry Brown has named four San Diegans to various boards, including three to the San Diego River Conservancy Governing Board. The three are Benjamin Clay of San Diego, Clarissa Falcon of Bonita and Elsa Saxod of San Diego, the governor’s office said Wednesday. The state Legislature created the San Diego River Conservancy in 2002 to preserve the San Diego River area and, in turn, the residents and wildlife that are directly affected by the river’s conservation. The governing board is composed of local, state and federal officials and currently has 13 members, 11 of whom vote on board matters.

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Hemet Sues Dow Chemical And Shell Oil Over Contaminated Drinking Water

/in , , /by /The Press-Enterprise (Riverside)by Johnny Bender

Hemet has filed a federal lawsuit against Dow Chemical and Shell Oil seeking reimbursement for the cost of removing a cancer-causing chemical from the city’s water wells. According to its Sept. 21 suit, the contaminated wells have been tainted by TCP, a “highly toxic substance” used until the 1980s to fumigate soil where crops were grown. The solvent’s chemical name is “1,2,3-trichloropropane.” Hemet Mayor Michael Perciful said low levels of the chemical were discovered in two wells during routine tests at least six months ago.

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Family-Owned Firm Completes Final Project For Water Agency

/in , /by /The Daily Transcriptby Mark Armao

During the past 60 years, Vista-based L.H. Woods & Sons, Inc. has executed dozens of contracts for upgrades to the pipelines that convey water throughout San Diego County. The family-owned company was recently honored by the San Diego County Water Authority, following the completion of a $28 million pipe-relining project, which was Woods’ final project for the agency.

 

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San Diego Unified’s Lead Testing Results, Mapped

/in , /by /KPBSby Megan Burks

San Diego Unified has tested nearly 2,000 water fixtures for lead, after first finding contamination at a school in early 2017. Of those, nearly 20 fixtures tested above 15 parts per billion, the Environmental Protection Agency’s limit for lead content. The district has either fixed the problem or cut off access to those fixtures. Another 225 tested above 5 ppb — the standard for bottled water and the new target San Diego Unified has set for all of its water. Those, too, have been remediated or blocked off as the district finishes installing filters.

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Hurricane Sergio Bringing Dangerous Surf To SoCal This Week

/in , /by /ABC7 (Los Angeles)

As Hurricane Michael threatens the East Coast, Hurricane Sergio is making Southern California beaches dangerous this week. Sergio is churning off the coast of Mexico, bringing dangerous surf conditions until Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Some minor coastal flooding is expected at south-facing beaches, from Oxnard all the way down to San Diego. Hazardous surf conditions will likely last through at least Thursday night. Estimates of surf heights are 5 to 8 feet with sets to 10 feet during the peak of the event.

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Water Supplies Sufficient For 2019 Demands Despite Hot, Dry Weather

/in , , /by /Water News Network

At the start of the 2019 water year, the combination of diversified water supplies and water-use efficiency means the San Diego region has enough water for 2019 and the foreseeable future despite historically low rainfall over the past 12 months. “It has been very hot and dry, but we have invested wisely in infrastructure and regional water-use remains well below where it was at the start of the last drought,” said Jeff Stephenson, a principal water resources specialist with the Water Authority.

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Environment Report: This Is What Global Warming Feels Like

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

The repeated and dire predictions about climate change can blur together. But a streak of rare and unbearable humidity in San Diego combined with recent record hot ocean water seemed to be a wake-up call for our region: This is what global warming feels like. With that in mind, there have been a few important recent reports at every level of government on what is headed our way. At the end of September, the state released a report on what climate change likely means for San Diego. Sea level rise is one major danger, and could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage each year and render parts of the coast unlivable.

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Wildfire Concerns Prompting SDG&E To Upgrade Infrastructure, Explore New Technology

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

San Diego Gas & Electric is upgrading its infrastructure and expanding its use of technology to limit the risk of wildfires and reduce the time it takes to restore service afterward. More than 14,000 wooden power poles have been replaced by steel versions, special cameras have been placed on 16 mountaintops and 177 weather stations are monitoring winds and moisture, an SDG&E official told a City Council committee last week.

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Cardiff Beach Living Shoreline Project Construction To Start

/in , /by /Del Mar Times

The City of Encinitas awarded a construction contract for the Cardiff Beach Living Shoreline Project at the City Council meeting on Sept. 26. The shoreline between Restaurant Row and South Cardiff State Beach is vulnerable to coastal flooding during large storm events and projected sea level rise. The city has partnered with the California Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR), California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy with grants from the SCC and the Ocean Protection Council to reduce the vulnerability of Coast Highway 101 to flooding, create coastal dune habitat, create a pedestrian path along the dunes, and beneficially reuse sand from future San Elijo Lagoon annual dredging operations.

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