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The San Diego County Water Authority’s board of directors today (January 26) declared that the drought is over. The board urged governor Jerry Brown and the State Water Resources Control Board to rescind statewide emergency water-use regulations for areas of the state no longer in drought conditions, such as San Diego. Heavy local rainfall, record-setting precipitation in the Northern Sierra, and a very good snowpack in the upper Colorado River basin convinced the county water authority board to call an end to the drought.

The drought is over in San Diego County but it doesn’t mean the end of water conservation. That’s according to the San Diego County Water Authority. “We are not in a shortage,” said SDCWA Water Resources Manager Dana Friehauf.  “We want to let our businesses know that and our community members know that we are not in a drought emergency here.” Friehauf said an amazing amount of snowfall and rain throughout California prompted the SDCWA’s Board of Directors to approve a resolution Thursday to declare an end to drought conditions in San Diego County.

A long planned gas-fired power station in Carlsbad that squeaked through approval largely because it was the only source that could be up and running by the end of 2017 will not be complete by that date after all. David Knox, communications director with plant owner NRG Energy, confirmed construction has not begun and the powerhouse won’t be complete until the end of 2018, or later if there are further legal appeals. An inewsource examination of utility filings has also found the new plant will be much dirtier than its original design.

A document purportedly leaked by the Trump administration identifies the proposed Poseidon Water desalination plant in Huntington Beach as a priority project for the new president’s private-public partnership agenda. The document, titled “Emergency and National Security Projects,” lists 50 projects around the country that total about $137.5 billion. According to the report, 50% of the funding would come from private sources. The proposed $1-billion Poseidon Water desalination project, which would be built next to the AES power plant at Newland Street and Pacific Coast Highway, taking advantage of some of that facility’s infrastructure, is listed as No. 44 on the document.

Thursday could be a landmark day when it comes to San Diego County’s water supply. The Board of the San Diego County Water Authority is expected to declare the drought over in the county. That would put them at odds with the state. The rainy, and in the upper elevations snowy weather has been a headache for drivers, and it has caused flood damage and downed trees all over the place. Even with all that, when it comes to the water situation in this county, the glass is most definitely half-full.