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The City of San Diego now offers a rebate to encourage its water customers to conserve water by removing their water thirsty grass and installing water-wise material and efficient irrigation systems. The City’s Public Utilities Department water customers can receive a rebate up to $4,250 for residential owners and $17,000 for commercial owners. “This rebate will allow customers to become empowered in their efforts to save money on their water bills,” said Halla Razak, Director of Public Utilities.

Orange County water customers have a lot at stake as a proposed billion-dollar desalination project heads to the California State Lands Commission for approval. As expected, Poseidon, the plant’s developer, is making last-minute promises about the Huntington Beach project to appease concerns that have dogged the company for years. I’ve heard Poseidon’s promises before, in San Diego County, where we fought to stop them from building a virtually identical desalination plant.

Solana Beach took another step Wednesday toward becoming the first city in San Diego County to provide its residents with a renewable alternative to electricity provided by San Diego Gas & Electric Co. City Council members agreed to enter the second of three phases that would lead to the creation and operation of a community choice aggregation, or CCA, as early as next year through a partnership with two private companies that would oversee its maintenance and operation. Other cities would be welcome to join the partnership, they said.

Over the past two decades, the fight between the Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority has eaten up the time and energy of countless water bureaucrats and cost water customers across Southern California tens of millions of dollars. Now that fight has led to a rebellion in the Water Authority’s own backyard. As a result, the Water Authority may no longer be able to count on a phalanx of its board members to publicly support the anti-Metropolitan rhetoric and policies that have been the cornerstone of the agency’s ethos for much of recent history.

The effort to prevent sewage from flowing from Tijuana into San Diego County got a small boost Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to provide about $2.1 million in funds for the effort. Senate Bill 507, authored by state Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, and Assembly member Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, reallocates one-time funds previously designated for use by San Diego County under the Wildlife, Coastal and Park Land Conservation Act.