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Red flag warnings are in effect through Monday afternoon, as soaring temperatures and the first major Santa Ana winds of the season are expected to sweep through an already parched Southern California. “I’d say the tinder box would be Southern California itself,” said David Sweet, a metereologist with the National Weather Service. “All areas in Ventura County and Los Angeles County are being subjected to gusty winds, high temperatures and low humidities.”

The next two years of leadership on the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors were cemented Thursday with the election of the agency’s board officers, whose terms will begin Oct. 1. Encinitas City Councilman Mark Muir, who represents the San Dieguito Water District on the Water Authority’s Board and has served as the board’s vice chair for two years, was elected the new chair of the 36-member board, which represents 24 retail member water agencies. Jim Madaffer, board secretary for the past two years as a representative from the city of San Diego, will serve as vice chair.

Most San Diegans are drinking water containing hexavalent chromium at levels higher than the goals set by California’s scientists, but that fall well below the state’s legal limits for the toxic metal, a new report by the Environmental Working Group found. The report, released Wednesday, seeks to draw attention to a chemical that’s ubiquitous in drinking water in more than 200 million Americans. It also highlights the tension between maximizing public health and setting limits that regulators deem practical.

Fishermen, water skiers and boating enthusiasts filled the San Vicente Reservoir in Lakeside Thursday morning, marking the grand re-opening of the popular recreation area after eight years. Some people were so eager, they camped out overnight outside at the front gate off Moreno Avenue. The reservoir, owned by the city of San Diego, shut down to visitors Sept. 2, 2008. It closed so the San Diego County Water Authority could raise the height of the reservoir’s concrete dam by more than 100 feet to increase its water storage. The dam is now at 337 feet.