The Deputy Director for the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department has announced his retirement. Michael Vogl will be retiring from the city after more than 28 years of employment, a city spokesperson told NBC 7 Responds. “The City was made aware of his retirement plans in advance, allowing for appropriate transition of knowledge and responsibilities,” the spokesperson said in an email.
The water authority’s board last week approved a 0.9 percent increase in the wholesale rate it will charge 24 member agencies, including the City of San Diego, for treated water in 2019. The authority noted that it’s own supplies from the Colorado River are now less expensive that the water it buys from the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District.
Why is water is such a contentious issue? Water is a scarce resource, especially in California where rainfall is so inconsistent. Compounding capricious hydrological cycles, the southern part of the state gets very little precipitation. This means that nearly all water must be pumped in from Northern California or the Colorado River. Controlling that water is big business. There seems to be an endless stream of litigation concerning water rights and the cost of transporting supplies. It’s important to remember that water is not only crucial for taking showers and doing dishes.
If the most powerful water officials in San Diego get their way, the county will ratchet down to a trickle one of its cheapest sources of water in the next two decades. Local officials say ongoing efforts to secure alternatives to the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — known as the Met — have safeguarded businesses and residents against crippling cuts triggered during prolonged drought. However, the strategy of the San Diego County Water Authority to move away from Southern California’s largest wholesaler has come with a cost.
A classic summer heat wave will develop in San Diego County on Friday and Saturday with temperatures hitting 80 degrees at-or-near the coast and the upper 90s and low 100s across inland valleys, says the National Weather Service. “The week will start out mild, with temperatures going up a degree or two each day,” said James Brotherton, a weather service forecaster. “The big warmup will come right after the Fourth of July, with Friday and Saturday being the warmest days.”
Wholesale water rates adopted Thursday by the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors include some of the smallest increases in the past 15 years due to successful litigation against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and strategic use of financial reserves, the agency said. They also highlight a historic shift in water costs: The Water Authority’s independent supplies from the 2003 Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement are now less expensive for the region than supplies from MWD, and that difference will grow in the years ahead.
Underneath San Diego streets lies a network of pipes and tunnels that most people never see. But when it rains, that network is busy carrying water out from neighborhoods and into the city’s rivers, bays and beaches. Much of that network is on the verge of collapse, and the city has nowhere near enough money to fix it. A report from the City Auditor’s Office released this month notes a staggering $459 million funding shortfall for stormwater infrastructure.
In less than six months, California will begin to enact new statewide water conservation laws. Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668 call for new urban-efficiency standards for indoor and outdoor uses, water lost to leaks and appropriate variances. The bills will take effect in 2019, although there will a grace period before enforcement, according to Mario Remillard, water conservation specialist for the Carlsbad Municipal Water District. Additionally, water agencies are required to stay within their water budgets regardless of current drought conditions. However, the California State Water Board will not enforce these standards until November 2023.
Coronado’s mayor flew to Oklahoma this week to talk with the head of the Environmental Protection Agency about possible solutions to the recurring Tijuana sewage spills that sully the San Diego County coastline. Mayor Richard Bailey and Administrator Scott Pruitt spoke one-on-one for about 20 minutes Tuesday during an annual meeting between leading environmental experts and regulators from Mexico, the United States and Canada. “We discussed possible next steps and (Pruitt) expressed a strong desire for some tangible progress in the very near future,” Mayor Richard Bailey said.
A city of San Diego analysis delivered to the City Council’s Audit Committee Wednesday found that Storm Water Division infrastructure faces the largest deferred maintenance backlog of any asset type in the city amid chronically insufficient funding. Continued deficits could lead to more emergencies and an inability to meet water quality requirements, Principal Senior Performance Auditor Andy Hanau told the committee. The Storm Water Division is projected to need $891 million to keep up with infrastructure needs and water quality standards over the next five years. Only $433 million in funding has been identified, however, leaving a gap of about $458 million.
