With one of the highest costs for water in San Diego County, Padre Dam Municipal Water District has faced a lot of pushback from residents tired of expensive bills. But some relief is in sight. As of July 1, the district said, the average customer in its service area paid the third-highest cost for water in the county — just over $100 per month.
California utilities are restoring power to tens of thousands of customers after intentionally cuts due to extreme fire danger and Santa Ana winds, which may persist into Tuesday. Just over 31,000 customers remained without power in California early Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us. A woman was killed Monday morning when high winds blew a tree on a vehicle the woman was inside in Tustin, about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles in Orange County, KABC-TV reported.
The “devil winds” whipped San Diego County Monday, then quickly and mysteriously moved on, sparing the region the sort of hellacious horrors that the Santa Anas often bring in autumn. Having been told to brace for trouble, San Diegans collectively shrugged, sighed and went about their business. Most were unaware that the region was the beneficiary of timing and topography.
San Diego County will have enough water for 2019 in spite of low rainfall and high temperatures over the past year, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Monday. Rainfall during the 2018 water year, which ran from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, totaled slightly more than three inches at San Diego International Airport, the county’s precipitation measurement site. SDCWA officials say that’s 67 percent lower than normal and the county’s second-lowest annual rainfall total since 1850.
For Lisa Marie Harris, serving as the director of finance for the San Diego County Water Authority is far more than a job. It’s part of a calling that started in college. As an undergrad, Harris secured a fellowship to study public policy at the University of Michigan, which confirmed her desire to pursue a career in government finance. Today, she is responsible for overseeing the Water Authority’s $2.3 billion debt portfolio, developing the agency’s bi-annual $1.5 billion operating budget, and setting the agency’s annual rates and charges.
The winds notorious for fueling Southern California wildfires were expected to kick up for the first time this year on Sunday night, putting the region on alert, according to the National Weather Service. The season’s first major Santa Ana winds may reach gusts of up to 75 mph in the region’s mountains, creating critical fire weather conditions through Tuesday night. Last year, the winds drove the Thomas Fire, which destroyed more than 280,000 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. and took more than a month to contain.
Water veteran and community advocate Gloria D. Gray was recently elected chairwoman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California. She has vast experience in state, regional and local water issues and has served as West Basin Municipal Water District’s (WBMWD) representative on the 38-member Metropolitan board since April 2009. “I am excited to help lead Metropolitan into the next era, as we work collaboratively to overcome challenges to our imported water supplies brought by climate change, invest in local resources and continue providing a reliable water supply to Southern California,” Gray said.
The Imperial County Public Health Department announced Friday that cyanotoxins were found in the Salton Sea. In recent months, low levels of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, were detected blooming along the northern shore of the Salton Sea in Riverside County. Water testing conducted by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board have confirmed the presence of three cyanotoxins: Anatoxin-a, Saxitoxin and Microcystin at the Desert Shores Harbor of the Salton Sea.
For more than a few San Diego Gas & Electric customers, a summer of discontent has just wrapped up. Record heat in the San Diego area resulted in some residents seeing their monthly bills balloon and their complaints were compounded by a “high usage charge” the California Public Utilities Commission recently put in place. But that’s not the only issue. A year-over-year review by the Union-Tribune of electricity rate charges by the three investor-owned utilities shows SDG&E’s rates are not only higher than their cohorts but they have also been rising faster.
The city of San Diego offers money-saving ways for water customers to conserve water. The city’s Public Utilities Department provides rebates through grant funding by the Department of Water Resources for removing lawns and installing rain barrels. Homeowners can apply now for financial rebates to convert their lawns into a drought resistant landscape. The city is offering a $1.25 per square foot rebate for all lawns that are converted. Converted areas must be designed to capture rainfall for reuse.
