The U.S. EPA recognized the San Diego County Water Authority with a 2023 WaterSense Excellence Award for advancing water efficiency through its Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper program, better known as QWEL. The Water Authority received one of 25 Excellence Awards on October 5 at the national WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas.
This is the fourth EPA WaterSense award won by the Water Authority. The 2023 award is for Excellence in Promotion and Outreach of the QWEL program.
On an evening in early September, Kylie Carrasco of Nestor said the rotten eggs odor in hersouth San Diego neighborhood near where sewage pollution spills over from Tijuana became so strong that she found herself in her front yard clutching a hand-held gas monitor she bought on Amazon.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Andrea Morahttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngAndrea Mora2023-10-09 11:02:532023-10-09 11:08:00New Monitors Confirm What South Bay Residents Suspected: Concentrations of Sewer Gases Are Above State Thresholds
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency honored the Vallecitos Water District with a WaterSense Partner of the Year Award for its video series promoting WaterSense and water efficiency in 2022. Vallecitos was one of nine Partner of the Year Award winners across the U.S.
WaterSense is a voluntary partnership program sponsored by the EPA. It identifies and labels water-efficient products, programs, and homes to help consumers learn ways to save water. More than 2,100 manufacturers, builders, retailers, utilities, government, and nonprofit organizations partner with WaterSense to promote water-efficient products, homes, and programs.
Vallecitos produced twelve videos released monthly in 2022, based on the EPA’s monthly feature topics. Each video focused on educating consumers about creating a WaterSense home. Among the topics covered by the 12 videos in the series are bathroom water consumption, efficient energy use, and one of the favorites, the “Shower With Power” video released in September 2022.
The video series produced by the Vallecitos Water District public affairs team was distributed by the U.S. EPA WaterSense program to help educate the public about water conservation nationwide. The videos can be downloaded for free on the EPA WaterSense partner platform.
Vallecitos began using video in 2019 to document the district’s workforce and infrastructure improvements on its social media platforms and has also engaged the public with discussions of critically important water management issues. It has won multiple awards for its work.
“We rely on video as a powerful communication tool at the Vallecitos Water District,” said Chris Robbins, Vallecitos Water District Public Information/Conservation Supervisor. “It’s how people like to consume information today,” “We invest a great deal of effort to make sure each video is an effective resource. This award from the EPA affirms we’re taking the right approach.”
Thanks to a decades-long supply diversification strategy and continued efficient use of water across the region, the San Diego County Water Authority announced that the region has reliable supplies to meet demands in Water Year 2024, which started October 1.
Hydrologists use Oct. 1 to begin measuring the snow and rain that will help carry water users through dry summer months the following calendar year. This fall, El Niño conditions continue to strengthen and could bring above-average precipitation to Southern California.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2023-10-06 10:06:122023-10-06 10:09:25Reliable Water Supplies Make San Diego Region Well-Prepared for 2024
The city of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 5, received more than $19 million in state grant money for climate resilience projects, including the Department of Water and Power’s turf replacement program that will pay for free yard transformations in underserved communities.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Andrea Morahttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngAndrea Mora2023-10-06 10:03:382023-10-06 10:10:28LA to Benefit From $19 Million State Grant for Turf Replacement Program
Helix Water District recently announced the winners of the 2023 Lake Jennings Photo Contest, with this year’s first place in the adult category going to photographer Billy Ortiz of Lakeside for his image “Reflection.”
Now in its 12th year, the contest drew 60 photos from photographers throughout San Diego County.
On Sept. 17, the Sweetwater Authority Governing Board accepted the 2023 rate study, which proposes a water rate structure for the following three years, determining the cost of providing water service and revenue required to maintain current water service levels.
The video series produced by the Vallecitos Water District public affairs team was distributed by the U.S. EPA WaterSense program to help educate the public about water conservation nationwide. The videos can be downloaded for free on the EPA WaterSense partner platform.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Andrea Morahttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngAndrea Mora2023-10-06 09:59:272023-10-06 10:11:51Vallecitos Water District Videos Win National EPA WaterSense Award
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation awarded the City of Oceanside $201,000 for the City’s Water Recycling and Desalination Planning Project. The City received the award after applying for WaterSMART funding to investigate expanding water reuse and increasing water recharge.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Andrea Morahttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngAndrea Mora2023-10-06 09:59:182023-10-06 10:12:02City of Oceanside Awarded $201,000 for Water Recycling and Desalination Planning Project
Most of the fish that Marco Valdez catches at the mouth of the Sweetwater River in the South Bay he throws back. He says that in his community, talk of water contamination circulates on the regular – and ever more often.
“You hear this in the news all the time, Pa’,” Valdez told an inewsource reporter as he reeled in his line.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Andrea Morahttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngAndrea Mora2023-10-06 09:58:242023-10-06 10:11:38San Diego Fined $4.6M for Sweetwater Sewage Spill as Aging Pumps Fail and Overflows Intensify
