Water from the 108-year-old Lake Hodges dam was released into the San Dieguito River to meet safety requirements, the city of San Diego said Wednesday.
The city said recent rain raised the levels of the Hodges Reservoir beyond the 280-foot-elevation threshold set by the Division of Safety of Dams, making the water release necessary. The 280-foot level is 35 feet below the dam’s spillway.
Late this year, drivers traveling westbound along Rancho Bernardo Road toward Interstate 15 might want to find alternative routes to avoid delays.
Up to two westbound lanes of RB Road, just east of the freeway and adjacent to The Mercado, will be closed for work on the Ramona Pipeline during at least a couple weeks between November and January 2027. The exact date is not yet known.
The third and final round of this week’s winter weather will move through on Thursday, bringing more rain, wind, and possible mountain snow.
This round may not have as much moisture, but it will be colder, NBC 7’s meteorologist Greg Bledsoe said. Light to moderate rain will move in on Thursday afternoon. Rain totals will range from about a quarter to a half inch for the coast and valleys, and then about a half inch to an inch for the foothills and mountains.
A nearly $87 million project to improve Poway’s water system will reach another milestone this spring when an aging Clearwell is replaced with two 4 million-gallon circular concrete water tanks.
The Clearwell replacement project is under budget, approximately 95% complete and on schedule for commissioning in spring 2026, according to a staff report.
The second wave of a dawdling Pacific storm hit San Diego County before dawn Wednesday, producing 76 mph winds on Palomar Mountain, 50 mph gusts at coast, heavy rain in such cities as Escondido and Valley Center, lightning near Miramar, and snow that’s continuing to fall on Mount Laguna, which could end up with one foot of the white power by late today, the National Weather Service said.
The weather also delayed 28 flights through 7:00 a.m. at San Diego International Airport and dropped enough rain to make freeways slick during the morning rush hour.
Construction on new water infrastructure is moving full steam ahead at Mission Trails Regional Park.
Crews have already completed more than 15% of the pipeline installation for this phase of the East County Advanced Water Purification program. Once finished, the AWP Program will supply up to 30% of East County’s drinking water, using state-of-the-art technology to purify recycled water, marking a big step toward a more reliable local water supply.
The first of two strong Pacific storms this week began battering Southern California on Monday, generating downpours and gusty winds, along with high surf along the coast.
The storm first hit Northern California before making its way to the southern part of the state, where it is expected to continue pouring rain into early Tuesday morning.
Californians are no strangers to drought, having lived through many dry periods in the last several decades. The good news is that December storms and previous strong rainfall filled state reservoirs to healthy levels. The bad news is that history shows the good conditions won’t last and worries over water supplies will continue in the coming years.
One need only look to 2015, when California was in one of its most severe droughts on record and Gov. Jerry Brown ordered the first-ever, statewide water reduction requirements aimed at urban Californians. Local reservoirs were depleted, imported supplies were strained and the region faced escalating uncertainty about the stability of its water future.
San Diego County’s run of warm, dry weather is ending, with cooler-than-average conditions, gusty winds and rain expected this week, according to the National Weather Service.
Most of Tuesday is expected to remain dry, though a few light showers could develop Tuesday evening ahead of a cold front.
The river responsible for the very existence of San Diego is again in crisis with major reservoirs used to store water at critically-low levels again – and still nobody can agree on how to save it.
Feb. 14 marks another deadline imposed by the federal government on seven U.S. states that rely on the Colorado River to figure out how to use less of it. Cities, farms, industries and tribes are all vying to exist in a world where there’s less water to support them.
