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OPINION: Yes On Proposition 68’s $4 Billion Bond

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Proposition 68, which was placed on the ballot by the California Legislature, would authorize the sale of $4 billion in bonds to establish and rehabilitate state and local parks and to pay for environmental, water infrastructure and flood protection projects. Opponents raise fair questions about the wisdom of new state borrowing in a year in which the state is running a big surplus. Supporters respond by saying it’s traditional to use bonds to pay for capitol improvements and by emphasizing the bond responds to real needs, starting with its focus on adding parks to neglected poor communities.

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California’s Only Sea Is Dying And Now Threatening Children

/in , /by /SF Gateby Ted Andersen

The Salton Sea is steadily disappearing, and communities near it are literally being left in the dust. California’s largest body of water — located in Imperial County near the Mexico-U.S. border — has been sinking for years, and dust clouds containing heavy metals, agricultural chemicals and fine particulates connected to asthma and other diseases are harming young people in that area. Children living in Imperial Valley have higher rates of respiratory problems compared to children elsewhere in the United States, according to a recently released government-funded survey conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California.

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Water Authority’s Proposed Rate Hikes Smallest In Years

/in , /by /San Diego Metro Magazine Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Water rate increases proposed by the San Diego County Water Authority staff for 2019 are among the smallest in the past 15 years due to financial benefits secured through litigation against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Water Authority’s planned use of its Rate Stabilization Fund, the agency reported Thursday. Rates charged to the Water Authority’s 24 member agencies would increase by 0.9 percent for treated water and 2.9 percent for untreated water in calendar year 2019, according to a proposal to be presented to the Water Authority’s Board of Directors on Thursday, May 24.

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Rate Increases For Water Agencies Across San Diego ‘Smallest’ In 15 Years

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Toni McAllister Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Water agencies across the San Diego region are expected to see rate increases for 2019 that are “among the smallest in the past 15 years,” according to the San Diego County Water Authority. Rates charged to the Water Authority’s 24 member agencies would increase by 0.9 percent for treated water and 2.9 percent for untreated water in calendar year 2019, according to a proposal to be presented to the Water Authority’s Board of Directors on May 24.

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Successful Litigation And Rate Stabilization Fund Benefit Ratepayers

/in , /by /East County Magazine Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Water rate increases proposed by the San Diego County Water Authority staff for 2019 are among the smallest in the past 15 years due to financial benefits secured through litigation against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Water Authority’s planned use of its Rate Stabilization Fund. Rates charged to the Water Authority’s 24 member agencies across out region would increase by 0.9 percent for treated water and 2.9 percent for untreated water in calendar year 2019, according to a proposal to be presented to the Water Authority’s Board of Directors on Thursday, May 24.

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As Salinity Grows And Toxic Dust Spreads, Patience Wears Thin At Salton Sea

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Louis Sahagun

Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia watched with ill-disguised frustration as a hearing aimed at expediting state projects to restore habitat and control dust storms at the shrinking Salton Sea instead dissolved into discussion of why the efforts were falling further behind schedule. “We have a plan, we have money, there is additional money lined up, and we have a constituency — myself included — that is running out of patience,” Garcia (D-Coachella), chairman of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife, said.

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OPINION: Tijuana Sewage Spills Finally Get The Attention They Deserve

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Effluent from Tijuana’s broken sewage system coming ashore in the United States has become a routine part of life on San Diego County’s southern coast. It’s why parts of the Imperial Beach shoreline were closed more than five months a year in each of 2015, 2016 and 2017, and why dozens of Border Patrol agents have been sickened by exposure to the muck.

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SDG&E And Firefighters Brace For A Rough Fire Season

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

Traditionally, fire season in Southern California ran from about the beginning of May through the end of November. But not anymore. Last year, for example, the Lilac Fire that swept through large parts of Bonsall, charring about 4,100 acres and destroying 157 structures, was sparked on the morning of Dec. 7. “It really is a year-round season,” said Cal Fire and County Fire Authority Chief Tony Mecham.

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A Former Lawn Sets The Stage For A Wildflower Super Bloom In Woodland Hills

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Lisa Boone

California’s super bloom hasn’t materialized the way it did last spring, but that hasn’t stopped Woodland Hills homeowners Ron Gales and Andrea Fields from enjoying a spectacular wildflower bloom of their own. Walking up to the house in springtime, it’s hard to believe the landscape was “an ugly lawn filled with weeds” when they purchased the home in 2009.

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3 Water Districts Funding Delta Tunnel Project Form Oversight Agency

/in , /by /CBS Los Angeles

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two other water districts that agreed to fund the California Waterfix tunnel project announced today the formation of a public agency that will be charged with its design and construction. The MWD, which serves as a major supplier of water to the Los Angeles region, along with the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Zone 7 Water Agency in the Bay Area, formed the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Joint Powers Authority, or DCA, which will hold its first meeting on Thursday.

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