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A document purportedly leaked from the Trump administration indicates that the proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach is among 50 infrastructure projects nationwide that the president has designated as a priority. The Kansas City Star and The News Tribune reported Tuesday that the $1 billion Poseidon Water desalination plant is on a list of dozens of projects across the country that would cost an estimated $137.5 billion in public-private partnerships.

 

State weathers storms but wastes the water. Regarding “Opposing views on the anti-Trump protests” (Jan. 24): The Sierra Nevada Mountains are 40,000 square miles — roughly 25 million acres. They are currently covered with five to 15 feet of snow, perhaps as much as 25 million acre feet of water that is worth more than $30 billion. However, our California politicians have not built one dam or created one new reservoir since 1979 while our population has nearly doubled. Instead we waste billions on a bullet train that is likely to become a boondoggle of epic proportions.

Much of California has gone from withered to water-logged this winter, but the state’s top water regulator is not ready to lift emergency conservation measures enacted during the height of the drought. “It makes the most sense to continue steady as she goes,” State Water Resources Control Board chairwoman Felicia Marcus told The Associated Press after the latest in a series of storms brought more snow to the mountains and record-breaking rainfall to parts of Southern California.

A series of winter storms brought some much needed rain to San Diego, but after years of drought, what has the wet weather done for local reservoirs? The City of San Diego goes through almost 200 million gallons of water a day, and even though January has been exceptionally wet, only ten-percent of water use comes from rainfall. City spokesperson Arian Collins said of the nine local reservoirs, none are at capacity and only two are fed by rainfall. The Barrett and Morena reservoirs are only at three and ten-percent capacity, respectively.

 

Regional water officials in San Diego County announced Tuesday that an innovative pipeline-inspection regime has saved ratepayers more than $200 million to date. During the last two decades, the San Diego County Water Authority has routinely been an early adopter of the latest pipeline-maintenance technology, officials said. Investments in such tools have made it possible to pinpoint small leaks and prevent costly replacement projects.