Escondido Approves Water Rate Increases Over 5 Years
Escondido City Council on Wednesday voted 4-1 to increase the water rate over the next five years.
City leaders say it was needed to keep the utility department financially stable.
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City of Escondido Approves Water Rate Increases for Five Years
Escondido City Council approved new water rate increases set to begin Jan. 1 and will increase each year for the next five years.
Residents had been outspoken about the possibility of a nearly 20% increase next year alone.
“It is by far the highest hike proposed over the past 12 years,” Sandra Otteson said.
Regional Emergency Managers Discuss Winter Outlook
There was a time when meteorologists could predict whether winter would be mild, moderate or severe. That information helped emergency managers plan ahead and get resources ready to fit the forecast and try to avoid a disaster.
Now, it’s difficult to predict the weather for more than 10 days at a time, said Stephen Rea, assistant director for the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services at a regional Winter Weather Workshop for local jurisdictions Tuesday in Kearny Mesa.
Newsom Signs Bill Requiring Countywide Vote in Future Water District Detachment
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill requiring a countywide vote before a local water district can “detach,” though it’s too late to prevent local votes in Fallbrook and Rainbow.
The two rural districts have sought to leave the San Diego County Water Authority for a cheaper, if potentially less reliable water supply from Riverside County.
Assembly Bill 399, introduced by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner of Encinitas and sponsored by the city of San Diego, expands voting requirements should agencies seek to withdraw from any county water authority.
The new law is effective Jan. 1, but the votes in Fallbrook and Rainbow are scheduled for Nov. 7.
Newsom Signs Law Making it Tougher for Water Districts to Secede — But it Won’t Affect Rainbow and Fallbrook Plans
The next time a member of a regional water agency wants to secede, a majority of voters across the entire wider district will have to approve the change under a bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Late last week the governor signed Assembly Bill 399, legislation authored by Encinitas Democrat Tasha Boerner and originally designed to thwart an effort by water officials in Fallbrook and Bonsall from divorcing from the San Diego County Water Authority.
Newsom signed the bill without issuing any public comment.
Opinion: San Diego-Imperial Water Deal: 20 Years of Success With Questions Ahead
San Diego has secure water supplies that are the envy of many agencies throughout the western United States.
The key to this was an agreement reached 20 years ago this week with the Imperial Irrigation District to send Colorado River water from that desert farming region to San Diego County.
The nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer was primarily accomplished through vast payments by San Diego to Imperial Valley farmers to modernize their
San Diego Water Authority Celebrates 20 Years of Secure, Clean Water Through Landmark Pact
The San Diego County Water Authority announced that Sunday marks 20 years since water officials across the Southwestern U.S. signed the largest water conservation-transfer agreement in the nation’s history, enabling two decades of sourcing clean water from the Colorado River.
Known as the Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement, or QSA, the agreements settled decades of dispute over Colorado River water.
Reservoirs Are So Full Long Beach Will Buy Water at a Discount, Save its Groundwater
With California reservoirs full after a historically wet winter, the Long Beach Utilities Commission has signed off on a plan to buy more imported water at a discount to help other cities clear space to capture more rain during the upcoming winter season.
Long Beach typically pumps over 60% of its customers’ water from local ground aquifers and is able to avoid paying for more expensive water piped in through the State Water Project or the Colorado River.
September Was Hot in the US, But Not So Much in San Diego
September was one of the warmest ever in the United States, with records falling in 111 counties, but conditions were moderate in Southern California.
Most of the country baked under record heat in September as large swaths of hot air covered the Midwest and East. The final tally put September 2023 as the seventh warmest in the last 129 years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) said it was also the third-driest September ever recorded in the lower 48 states.
Traces of COVID-19 in Point Loma Wastewater Reach Highest Levels in More Than a Year
Health officials reported Sunday that Point Loma has reached the highest concentration of COVID-19 viral load in local wastewater since August 2022.
According to the San Diego Epidemiology and Research for COVID Health Alliance, a partnership between Scripps Research and UC San Diego, scientists measure concentration of the virus at the Point Loma, Encina and South Bay wastewater treatment plants to understand how the virus is evolving and being transmitted.
