At a time when droughts occur more frequently and winters can be hot and bone dry, Southern California water agencies are scrambling for new water sources. When the Water Replenishment District of Southern California located a 30-year supply trapped between the ocean and an aquifer, it was like a prospector finding gold.
There is still no explanation behind skyrocketing water bills across the City of San Diego. Since News 8’s “Your Stories” investigation first aired last month, city officials have requested an audit of the Public Utilities Department – which also launched its own probe into the issue – but some residents believe the new “smart meters” might be to blame. Jim Narvaez replaced his water guzzling lawn with artificial grass – so imagine his surprise when his water bill went up.
An untold number of water customers across San Diego are receiving inexplicably high water bills from the city. One gentleman told me the high charges, which he believes are inaccurate, threaten his ability to continue living in San Diego. He’s surely not alone. The city’s Public Utilities Department has mostly blamed its customers. The department says customers must be confused by a mixture of undetected leaks; a recent rate increase of 6.9 percent; a recent billing cycle that was 10 days longer than normal; unusually hot and dry weather; and, from time to time, “meter reading inconsistencies.”
This winter in the southern Rocky Mountains is shaping up to be one for the record books. And not in a good way. Parts of the West are currently experiencing one of the driest and warmest winters on record. Snowpack is far below normal levels in southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and California, leaving some to worry about this year’s water supply.
Under a baking sun, Russell Neches peeled off his long-sleeved base layer to hit the ski slopes at Royal Gorge Cross Country Resort near Lake Tahoe. Early February should be the the dead of California’s winter, yet Neches was skiing in — and sweating through — his T-shirt. “As soon as there was sun, it was unbearably hot,” said the 37-year-old Oakland resident. Unseasonably warm and dry temperatures blanketed California over the weekend, shattering records across the state and bringing clear blue skies that were expected to linger through next weekend.
Dozens of San Diegans are howling over soaring water bills, complaining on social media and to the city. In response, Mayor Kevin Faulconer has promised every complaint will be reviewed and independent City Auditor Eduardo Luna has promised to conclude that review by June. City utilities officials have a range of explanations for the spikes, starting with meter-reading errors, higher usage because of warmer weather, leaks in water systems and homes, a 6.9 percent rate increase that took effect Aug. 1, and a change that led to one bill covering more days.
It sounds like something out of a Kafka novel. You get an inexplicable bill from a government agency for thousands of dollars and no manner of protest or pleading will reverse it. Instead, you’re told by the bureaucracy to pony up the money or face losing access to an essential resource — water. That’s the situation being described by residents across the city of San Diego who say the Public Utilities Department is charging them for water they didn’t use.
Much of Southern California is once again in a drought and there is little relief in sight, a report by the United States Drought Monitor revealed. About 44 percent of California was in drought Thursday, up from 12 percent last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report. As of this week, all of San Diego County and most of Los Angeles County has been elevated from an “abnormally dry” category to a “moderate drought” category.
The US Drought Monitor moved San Diego County up to the next level of severity Thursday. It’s now at moderate, which is the second highest level of the five. At the same time, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada was woefully low.“We’re around 27-percent of normal,” said San Diego County Water Authority Water Resources Specialist Jeff Stephenson.
A U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday shows all of San Diego County is now in a moderate drought. The Category 1 declaration comes a year after water officials declared the region’s drought was over. According to the Drought Monitor, a “moderate drought” means ongoing dry conditions could cause damage to crops, and a possibility of water shortages could develop.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
