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San Diego Is Getting A Future ‘WaterFix’

/in , /by /The Coast Newsby Adam Bradley

San Diegans are you ready for a WaterFix? Maybe you’d like water that is more reliable and tastes better? It’s on its way, but there are a few more approvals needed before this can happen, according to Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger. The project, called California WaterFix, is expected to modernize the state’s decades-old water delivery system by building three new water intakes in the northern Delta and two tunnels to carry the water under the Delta to the existing aqueduct systems in the southern Delta that delivers water to cities and farms.

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SoCal Water Giant Will Redo Delta Tunnels Vote Amid Pushback

/in , /by /Courthouse News Service (Pasadena)by Nick Cahill

Dodging claims that it violated open government and transparency laws before voting to spend $10 billion on a contentious water project, California’s largest water supplier said Thursday it will vote again. Despite acknowledging that some of its board members privately discussed the contentious project known as the Delta Tunnels before a critical April vote, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California insists it didn’t violate the state’s revered Brown Act.

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O.C. Water District Delays Vote On Huntington Beach Desalination Project’s Rate Plan

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Priscella Vega Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Orange County Water District delayed voting Wednesday on updated terms for buying water from the proposed Huntington Beach ocean desalination plant. Board members wanted more time to review the rate plan and gather additional community feedback on an updated rate sheet, which was made public Friday with the meeting agenda. Several community members, environmental activists and water district representatives raised concerns. The 10-member board voted unanimously to reconsider the proposal July 18. If approved, the non-binding, updated term sheet would shorten the length of the contract between the water district and Poseidon Water from 50 years to 30 or 35 years.

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Carl DeMaio On New Bill Restricting Water Usage In California

/in , /by /KUSI News

A new California law will make it illegal for Californians to shower and do a load of laundry on the same day. The law signed by Governor Jerry Brown will limit individuals daily water use to 55 gallons. Gov. Brown signing AB 1668 sponsored by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and SB 606 sponsored by Senator Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), will implement strict water use limits by January 1, 2020; long-term water use efficiency standards by June 30, 2022; and manage their assigned water rationing goals beginning in 2027. KUSI was joined by Chairman of Reform California Carl DeMaio with more on this new bill.

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Water District Delays Tentative Deal With Poseidon For Desalination Plant

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

Acknowledging opponents’ concerns, the Orange County Water District board on Wednesday night postponed a vote on updated terms for buying water from the desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach by Poseidon Resources. The nonbinding term sheet, which will be considered again July 18, would revise the groundwork for an eventual contract if Poseidon gets the final two regulatory permits needed for construction and the district decides to proceed. Some 18 residents, environmental activists and representatives from other water districts leveled criticism at the project, questioning the need, the cost and the track record of Poseidon’s 2 1/2-year-old desalter plant in Carlsbad.

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Imperial Irrigation District Elections: Candidates Backed By Powerful Farmers Fail

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Sammy Roth

Southern California voters toppled one Imperial Irrigation District board member and re-elected another, in a low-turnout election that nonetheless could have major consequences for millions of people who depend on water from the Colorado River. With all precincts reporting, El Centro city councilmember Alex Cardenas led 55-45 percent over incumbent IID director Juanita Salas, with about 1,800 votes counted. Meanwhile, IID board president Jim Hanks led challenger Raul Navarro, a member of Calipatria Unified School District’s board of trustees, 52-48, with fewer than 2,200 votes counted.

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Dust Rising

/in , /by /The Vergeby Michael Zelenko

On May 29th, 2009, Michelle Dugan and her family began the 600-mile trip from El Centro, California to the Bay Area, where she was set to attend her college orientation. They left late Friday evening, driving through the dusty Imperial Valley landscape and its endless fields of onions, spinach, and alfalfa. Then on to Highway 86, past the desolate shores of the Salton Sea, toward Michelle’s grandmother’s home in nearby Coachella, where they would spend the night before the next day’s long drive.

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Californians Approve Bond Measure That Will Provide $200 Million For Salton Sea

/in , /by /The Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Ian James

Californians approved the $4.1 billion bond measure Proposition 68 on Tuesday, giving a boost to California’s long-delayed and underfunded effort to build thousands of acres of wetlands around the shrinking Salton Sea.  A total of $200 million for Salton Sea projects is rolled into the statewide ballot measure, which will also provide money for a variety of water projects, state and local parks, and wildlife conservation programs.

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SDG&E To Add Five New Battery Storage Facilities

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

In California’s quest to blend more renewable energy sources into the power grid, energy storage has repeatedly become one of the answers the state’s policymakers have turned to. Late last week, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a proposal from San Diego Gas & Electric to build five new energy storage projects, each using lithium-ion battery technology, at facilities in San Diego, Poway, Escondido, Fallbrook and San Juan Capistrano. The projects will total 83.5 megawatts — enough to power about 55,000 homes for four hours.

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An Erratic Water Supply Strains ‘Old Country’ Crops, Friendships Cultivated Over Decades On A Patch Of Soil In San Pedro

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Joe Mozingo

The old Italian men pass their mornings near the top of the hill, tending thick grapevines and rows of fava beans, smoking crumbling Toscano cigars, staying out of the house. If you try to call Francesco “Frank” Mitrano at home, his wife will brusquely tell you that he’s at “the farm.” The farm is a patch of soil by the 110 Freeway, where he harvests enough tomatoes from his crop to make spaghetti sauce for his family’s weekly Sunday dinner. “Twenty-one people,” he exclaims.

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