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A new Smithsonian Institution exhibit, highlighting the importance of water, made its national debut at the Western Science Center in Hemet on August 13, where it will be on display until November 27, 2016. The exhibit, entitled “H2O Today,” is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit Service (SITES). The Western Science Center is a Smithsonian affiliate. Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) is a co-sponsor of the exhibit, along with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

 

Environmental activist Marco Gonzalez was irked to see the San Diego County Taxpayers Association recently give a Golden Watchdog award to the Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Besides arguing that the region should simply use less water, he argues that desalinated seawater is more expensive than imported water from the San Joaquin Delta and the Colorado River. It’s surprising to see an environmentalist prefer imported water over desalinated seawater. Extracting water from the Delta and Colorado River has negative impact on fish and birds, and some of that water is lost on its way to San Diego County through evaporation and seepage.

When it comes to the biggest environmental problems — global warming, ongoing pollution of the water we drink and irrigate our crops with — it’s always disheartening to hear scientists say that looming disaster is practically impossible to prevent. Makes it hard to work up the energy to conceive the cure if all hope is lost.

 

 

The highly anticipated and overdue re-opening of San Vicente Reservoir – San Diego County’s most popular recreational reservoir – continues to be held up for the same unresolved issue; cables that attach the marina’s two docks to land. Shocking, isn’t it? A project that involved raising the dam 117 vertical feet (the tallest dam raise of its type in the entire world), construction of an entire new marina and parking lot, a 900 foot long launch ramp that is 114 feet wide, new concession building, office buildings, restrooms, pump stations and more…and they still can’t get the docks tied to land correctly.

At today’s 2 p.m. meeting of the Helix Water District Board (7811 University Ave., La Mesa), directors will consider addition of fees and other changes at Lake Jennings, including adding kayak rentals and a tee-pee rental venue at the campground.  These are the latest improvements proposed by a committee led by director Joel Scalzitti.    As a result, the lake that some board  members sought to close due to budget shortfalls is now operating at a profit.