The summer heat that wouldn’t relent is finally relenting, at least for most of San Diego County. “It’s going to be a pattern for late August that is a little unusual,” National Weather Service forecaster Mark Moede said. “It’s going to give us a break from the heat and humidity, with an onshore flow. And it’s going to be with us for awhile, at least through early next week.”
Chula Vista has joined the city of San Diego and a number of other West Coast cities in an attempt to force chemical giant Monsanto to pay tens of millions to clean up waterways polluted with a class of cancer-linked chemicals, known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The city filed a lawsuit against the St. Louis-based corporation on Tuesday alleging it should help pay for costs associated with cleaning up PCB in its municipal stormwater system.
Two new directors representing the San Diego County Water Authority have joined Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors. Longtime labor union leader Jerry Butkiewicz and Tim Smith, an engineer in the water industry for 28 years, succeed directors Keith Lewinger and Elsa Saxod, who served on the Metropolitan 38-member board for nine years and nearly two years, respectively. Butkiewicz will serve on the Communications and Legislation Committee and the Water Planning and Stewardship Committee. Smith was named to the Engineering and Operations Committee and the Finance and Insurance Committee.
Following California’s adoption of new water efficiency legislation in May, quite a lot has been written about the implications for urban water providers and their customers. The dominant emerging narrative is that by signing these “draconian measures” into law Gov. Jerry Brown has made it “illegal to shower and do laundry on the same day,” that individuals using more than 55 gallons of water per day will be subject to “hefty fines,” and that state authority over local water utilities has expanded in ways that “amount to tyranny.”
Water customers in National City, Bonita and western Chula Vista will see more expensive bills over five years under a proposal the Sweetwater Authority governing board approved Monday. The board voted 5-1 to authorize the plan, which allows the agency to increase rates between 2020 and 2024 based on the annual change in consumer prices. Board member Jose Preciado cast the dissenting vote. Board member Steve Castaneda was absent.
North River Farms, a proposed development that would bring hundreds of homes, a hotel and commercial properties to a rural area of northeastern Oceanside, returns to the City Council on Wednesday to request a development agreement. Approval of the agreement would allow the developer, Integral Communities, to negotiate the terms of things such as new water and sewer lines, street improvements and affordable housing that the city requires to be included with the project. Further approvals would be required before any construction begins.
A water main broke Tuesday in Coronado, flooding an intersection and shutting off water to a block of homes in an outage that was expected to last until early Wednesday morning. Brown water flooded the roadway near Pomona Avenue and Sixth Street about 3:30 p.m., city officials said. A contractor reportedly hit the line, causing the break. Crews from California American Water “committed to work around the clock until the broken water line is repaired,” city officials said on Facebook. Water service was expected to be restored a few hours after midnight.
More than 225 San Diego County homeowners have transformed their landscapes into beautiful, climate-appropriate mini-watersheds through the Sustainable Landscapes Incentive Program developed by the San Diego County Water Authority and its partners. Since the program launched in October 2016, more than 354,000 square feet of turf has been removed and replaced with sustainable landscaping. Approximately 100 projects are still under way, though the program isn’t taking new applications.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, stepping up the Trump administration’s attack on California water policy, on Friday issued a memo to his staff demanding a “plan of action” to circumvent state officials. He gave the staff 15 days to develop a proposal and present it to his deputy, a former lobbyist for big water users at odds with the state. Zinke’s memo represents the latest volley in a developing war between the Trump administration and the state over the distribution of water from state and federal projects.
The Sweetwater Authority Governing Board voted 5-1 Monday night to raise water rates over the next six years. Rates will increase every year from starting on Jan. 1, 2019 until 2024. The last time the water authority raised their rates was in 2015. Since then, the cost of water has increased by about 17 percent, the Sweetwater Authority said in a memo to the governing board.
