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Opinion: What We Flush Down the Toilet Matters. Only the ‘Three Ps,’ Please

What goes in the toilet, and what goes in the trash? It’s the kind of discussion one has with a 2-year old, and is all the more delightful because it’s a topic generally regarded as taboo in polite conversation. You get to say things such as only “the three Ps” — pee, poop and paper — go in the toilet. Everything else goes in the trash can. Right?

Opinion: Howard Wayne Helped Set California’s Standard For Ocean Water Quality

Howard Wayne had a license plate that read “AB 411.”

That probably meant nothing to the uninitiated, but those who knew the former Assembly member certainly got it.

In 1997, Wayne’s Assembly Bill 411 to require and standardize ocean water-quality testing in California was approved by the Legislature and signed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson.

‘Ridiculous’ Water Bills. ‘Inordinate’ Hold Times. After Years of Customer Complaints, San Diego is Making Sweeping Changes.

Years of complaints about billing mistakes and hours-long customer-service hold times have prompted San Diego officials to make sweeping changes to the city’s Water Department.

The changes include a new billing system, switching customer service software, new call routing, more payment options and a new policy alerting customers when their bill is being withheld for a leak investigation.

The city is also hiring more customer service workers, paying them more, expanding their training and putting new leaders in charge of their efforts.

3M, DuPont PFAS Settlements Called Inadequate by Cities, Other Objectors

Nov 13 (Reuters) – U.S. cities, towns and water districts have challenged proposed class action settlements worth more than $11 billion with 3M (MMM.N), DuPont de Nemours (DD.N) and others, arguing the deals are too generous to the chemical companies accused of contaminating U.S. water with toxic “forever chemicals.”

Opinion: Water ‘Divorce’ Election is Manifestation of Larger County Problems

Customers in two North County water districts overwhelmingly voted to leave a regionwide agency for a simple reason: They can get less-expensive water elsewhere.

But the broader dynamics that led to this moment are complex — and are expected to increase costs for years to come for ratepayers remaining with the San Diego County Water Authority, an umbrella organization currently with 24 member agencies.

First Atmospheric River Storm of the Season Targets California Next Week

A major pattern change is set to deliver California’s first atmospheric river of the season next week. Significant rain and snow is in the forecast for the Golden State, while damp, dreary days are ahead for other parts of the West as signs of El Niño’s influence on the upcoming winter season emerge.

Opinion: Millions Share the Discontent That Fueled Rainbow and Fallbrook Vote For a Water Divorce

In modern American politics, voters at the local and state level are asked to weigh in all the time on ballot measures involving public policy. What’s strikingly consistent across the nation is just how contrary voters are and how ready they are to object to anything. In San Diego, for a local example, an utterly mundane 2016 measure to change the City Charter’s language on municipal bonds so that it conformed with the state Constitution and changes in state law drew the objections of 21 percent of voters. Very lopsided results are extremely rare.

Opinion: It’s About Time California Built the Sites Reservoir

California’s state government began drawing up plans for Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley 70 years ago. And it still only exists on paper.

So, kudos to Gov. Gavin Newsom for deciding that it’s finally time to put this tardy project on the fast track.

Fast track means there’ll be limited time for any opponent to contest the project in court on environmental grounds.

Desperate for Water, a Desert City Hopes to Build a Pipeline to the California Aqueduct

After decades of unrestricted pumping in the rain-starved northwestern corner of the Mojave Desert, the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Basin Authority has the distinction of managing one of the most critically overdrawn aquifers in California.

Water Customers in North County Overwhelmingly Approve Divorce From Regional Agency

Voters across two North County water districts overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure to break away from the San Diego County Water Authority, capping a years-long effort to divorce from the regional agency.

In unofficial election results from the Tuesday election, roughly 19 of every 20 ballots cast by residents of the Rainbow Municipal Water District and the Fallbrook Public Utilities District supported leaving the county water authority.