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San Diego communities are working together to diversify their water supply, with a plan to convert the wastewater that goes down drains and toilets, into purified drinking water. The Padre Dam Municipal Water District in Santee is leading the East County Advanced Water Purification Program. The district is working with Helix Water District, the city of El Cajon, and the County of San Diego to build a full-scale water purification facility on-site at Fanita Parkway.

Long-range weather forecasters have been striking out lately. Two years ago, they whiffed on El Niño, which was supposed to be a “monster” that would drench California and end four years of drought. Instead, the El Niño of 2015-16 turned out to be a mouse, and the drought dragged on.

Over the past 12 years, the country’s biggest urban water agency has paid farmers about $190 million not to grow crops on thousands of acres near the Colorado River in the Palo Verde Valley. The water has gone to Los Angeles and other cities across Southern California, and in return, the farmers who’ve left some of their lands unplanted have been able to count on additional income.

The South Coast Water District will hold a board workshop Tuesday in Laguna Beach to discuss the proposed Doheny Ocean Desalination Project. District staff will update board members about desalination studies, placement of slant wells, hydrology, alternative power supplies and cost estimates. South Coast, which serves customers in South Laguna, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, proposes a 5-acre facility on 30 acres of district-owned property near San Juan Creek.

Tucked between the corporate offices and condos of Kearny Mesa, a new model of next-generation landscape practices has sprouted at the headquarters of the San Diego County Water Authority — an oasis brimming with graffiti star clusters, Dallas red lantana, Santa Barbara daisies and dozens of other plant varieties arranged artfully between pavers, mulch and stone. As part of its efforts to promote water-use efficiency no matter the weather, the Water Authority recently installed the showcase garden to feature four core principles of sustainable landscapes — healthy soils, climate-appropriate plants, high-efficiency irrigation and using rainwater as a resource.