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Hoping to create another water source in south Orange County, five water districts have partnered to fund and build a $107 million treatment plant that will provide drinking water for most of the region beginning next year. The Baker Water Treatment Plant, on Biscayne Bay Drive in Lake Forest, is expected to begin operating in January. The five-acre plant will provide an estimated 28.1 million gallons of drinking water per day to about 63,300 homes, Irvine Ranch Water District officials said.

San Diego experienced its first “winter-like” storm of the season on Monday, giving people an excuse to finally bring out the winter sweaters and umbrellas.San Diego resident Tiffany Epps recently had to purchase a new umbrella because hers broke. “I seen they had a pink one and I was like this is perfect. I’m going to grab this one before somebody else does,” Epp said.Rancho Bernardo resident Mandana Soltani, and her young son Nikhal, spent the day at Balboa Park where it rained on and off all day. Soltani says she loves the rain.

 

The top executive at Palomar Health District earned more than $841,200 in wages last year, making him the fourth-highest-paid special district employee in the state, according to 2105 data. The CEO, Robert A. Hemker, was one of three employees at special districts in San Diego County to be paid more than $500,000 last year, according to data compiled by the state controller and the open government group Transparent California.

Environmental groups and scientists are gripped with anxiety about the prospect of President-elect Donald Trump, who has denied the existence of climate change, slashing government money for climate research, gutting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s staffing and authority, and pulling out from international agreements to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. On the other end, skeptics of climate change and those who believe the Obama administration has wrongly prioritized efforts to curb global warming at the expense of the U.S. economy are eyeing Trump’s presidential victory as a chance to give their views high-profile credence.

The number of dead trees in California’s drought-stricken forests has risen dramatically to more than 102 million in what officials described as an unparalleled ecological disaster that heightens the danger of massive wildfires and damaging erosion. Officials said they were alarmed by the increase in dead trees, which they estimated to have risen by 36 million since the government’s last survey in May. The U.S. Forest Service, which performs such surveys of forest land, said Friday that 62 million trees have died this year alone.