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Padre Dam Municipal Water District was nationally honored with a Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), an Award of Distinction from the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) and a Platinum Hermes Creative Award from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP) for its video, Water, Too Good to Waste.

“The Water, Too Good to Waste video is instrumental to providing the public with a better understanding of why the Advanced Water Purification Program is essential for East San Diego County,” said Allen Carlisle, CEO and General Manager of Padre Dam.

Like any plants, avocados need water to thrive. But lately, water has been causing a lot of headaches for San Diego’s avocado farmers.

Water rates have soared over the past several years. And as San Diego water officials have scrambled to assemble a drought-proof water supply, they’ve begun to rely more on water from the Colorado River. That water, it turns out, is quite salty. Avocado trees are particularly sensitive to salt.

With its tract homes, expansive lots and rural soul, Yorba Linda exemplifies the sort of sleepy suburb that would coin the motto “Land of Gracious Living.”

Recently, though, this upscale Orange County city of 66,000 has been anything but. Longtime residents are engaged in a legal brawl with their water provider, punctuated by vitriol and name-calling that some say reminds them of the 2016 presidential campaign. At issue is a $25-per-month rate hike that Yorba Linda Water District officials say was needed to keep the agency solvent after state-mandated water conservation blew a hole in its budget.

Randy Garcia points a flashlight into a bush and shakes the leaves. Martin Serrano climbs a ladder to peer into rain gutters. Yessenia Avilez ducks under stairs and flips over a plastic tarp collecting water.

In a Silver Lake backyard resembling a small jungle, the team — dressed in khaki shirts tucked into blue slacks — searches for its target. Serrano and Garcia spot a tub filled with rainwater, leaves floating on the top. There’s movement just below the surface: hundreds of swimming creatures, like tiny tadpoles.

State regulators have approved new water conservation rules that could loosen water restriction imposed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year.

The State Water Resources Control Board voted 4-0 Wednesday to allow local water districts to set their own water savings targets based on the water supply and demand forecasts for their areas, the Los Angeles Times reported. As a result, areas of the state that received a lot of rain this winter and areas that purchase water from suppliers with adequate supplies will be able to relax restrictions this summer.