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Southern Californians are conserving water as never before. Yet based on one government formula, we are not conserving at all.

Southland water use is down, the same as if local water agencies were imposing a 30 percent rationing mandate. But the official conservation target by these same agencies, based on a new state reporting requirement, is officially “zero.”

What is going on? California agencies at various times have cajoled, motivated or mandated residents and businesses to use less water. Sometimes conservation mandates take the forefront. At other times, conservation is a way of life.

In advance of a political showdown in the state Legislature, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration made its first formal effort Tuesday to extend the life of the program central to California’s bid to combat climate change.

The California Air Resources Board, which is controlled by the governor, released a plan that would continue the state’s cap-and-trade program to cut carbon emissions beyond 2020, the date when the program currently expires. Cap and trade functions by forcing companies to buy permits in order to pollute, providing a financial incentive for power plants, oil refineries, manufacturers and other businesses to reduce their emissions.

The San Diego Sustainable Landscapes Program (SLP) has launched a website, SustainableLandscapesSD.org, to help the region’s residents easily find information to transform turf-based urban landscapes into sustainable ones that provide multiple environmental benefits, such as increased water-use efficiency and improved storm water management, according to a San Diego Water Authority press release.

The SLP is a grant-funded partnership created by the San Diego County Water Authority, the City of San Diego, the County of San Diego, the Surfrider Foundation, the California American Water Company and the Association of Compost Producers.

 

The recent move by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny to invalidate the Brown administration’s Delta Plan is good news for water reform advocates. The Delta Plan was an administration blueprint to restore the beleaguered Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. That was its putative purpose, at least. In reality, it was a flawed — even cynical — document drawn up by Department of Water Resources staffers to expedite construction of the Twin Tunnels, Governor Brown’s massive and prohibitively expensive megaproject that would drain the Delta of life-sustaining freshwater for export to the corporate farms of the western San Joaquin Valley.

Richard Brady & Associates, Inc. (BRADY)  announced today that Javier Saunders, P.E. has joined the firm to further expand its recent success in the municipal water resources sector.  Javier spent the last 12 years at Harris & Associates where he was instrumental in expanding their water/wastewater capabilities.  Having served on the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors for over 10 years, Javier provides our clients with a broad range of knowledge of local and regional water related issues.  Javier comments “I am excited to start a new challenge within BRADY and help lead its rapid expansion.