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In March of 2017, California American Water announced its new Sustainable Landscapes Program in which it encouraged customers of California American Water who are residents of the San Diego region to “take a watershed approach to landscaping their yards.” Partnering with the San Diego County Water Authority, the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, Surfrider Foundation, and the Association of Compost Producers, the mission of the new program set out to be “the go-to resource to assist San Diego County residents in adopting sustainable landscaping best practices through education and training, technical assistance, landscaping materials and financial incentives.”

City of San Diego officials are scheduled to test the water at Birney Elementary School in University Heights on Friday to determine if repairs successfully cleared contaminants from the plumbing system. Birney is one of two San Diego Unified School District campuses where elevated levels of lead were discovered in the water. Officials with the city’s Public Utilities Department told the City Council’s Environment Committee that while the city is testing for contaminants, school districts are responsible for making repairs.

Your water bill could be getting more expensive. The San Diego County Water Authority is considering a 3.7% rate hike. Maintaining a low-water yard does not take much work for Dutch Burman. “There’s not much land that needs to be irrigated,” he said, describing his front yard, which has mulch, drought-tolerant palm trees and a low-water irrigation system. During the drought, he scaled back on his water consumption. “My bill has gone down so dramatically because of the conserving,” he said. His last bill came out to about $225, thanking low-flow faucets, toilets and a washer.

San Diego has some of the most expensive water in California – and in the country. A typical San Diego household pays about $80 a month for water. The national average is less than $40 a month, according to a recent survey by the American Water Works Association. Water in California is more expensive than elsewhere, but San Diego still has among the highest rates in the state, according to another recent survey. The most expensive water in the state is found in communities along the state’s Central Coast, like Santa Barbara.

On Tuesday, May 23, at 10:30 a.m., the city of Santa Monica unveiled its Stormwater Harvesting and Direct Use Demonstration Project at a ceremony at Los Amigos Park, located near John Muir Elementary School at 500 Hollister Avenue. Mayor Ted Winterer, Chief Sustainability Officer and Assistant Public Works Director Dean Kubani, City Engineer Rick Valte, and other officials were present at the event. The project, financed by a grant from the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) and the Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax (Measure V), is a collaborative effort between the city, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), and the MWD.