In partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority, the Vallecitos Water District offers a series of five WaterSmart landscape design workshops in August and September to help its customers redesign and install new water-saving, sustainable landscapes at a convenient North County location.
Gov. Newsom has signed a bill extending the sunset date for research on landslides and coastal erosion in San Diego County hot spots such as Del Mar and Encinitas. The extension will cover delays that prevented the timely installation of key sensors, including a subsurface meter used to detect small-scale ground movement of the bluff at Beacons Beach in Encinitas.
The award-winning Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir enhances drinking water supply reliability and operational efficiency for the region. Construction was completed June 23 on the San Diego County Water Authority project in North San Diego County.
Eleven years ago, when the San Diego County Water Authority was going through the final stages of approving what had, by that time, become a decade-long odyssey to create the first desalination plant on the West Coast, the agency made a prediction.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Turf Replacement program aims to update homeowners’ landscaping practices by encouraging the removal of existing grass and replacing it with organic, drought-tolerant alternatives. With a focus on water conservation and sustainability, the program seeks to combat the effects of water scarcity and promote responsible water usage among residents.
It is essential to note that synthetic turf is not an approved option for conversion under this program. Instead, the emphasis is on promoting organic and eco-friendly landscaping solutions that align with the city’s environmental goals.
Water is the lifeblood of civilizations, and the management of this precious resource has always been a challenging task. The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) holds a significant stake in water rights, playing a vital role in water distribution and agriculture. This essay delves into the history, challenges, and strategies employed by IID to manage water rights responsibly and sustainably.
Vista Homeowner Diane Krupnak redesigned her front yard to save water and won the 2023 Vista Irrigation District WaterSmart Landscape Contest.
The annual contest recognizes outstanding watersmart residential landscapes based on the criteria of overall attractiveness, appropriate plant selection, design, appropriate maintenance, and efficient irrigation methods.
Making the desert bloom. That’s what our local water district has accomplished in the nearly 70 years of its existence.
Although settlers first came to Valley Center in the 1860s, the town’s population stayed at just a few hundred people throughout the first part of the 20th Century. On the eve of the formation of the district, the population was about 900, according to the Valley Center History Museum. But in 1954 the voters of the community voted overwhelmingly to create the Valley Center Municipal Water District (VCMWD). From then on, the town has grown with the water district, which made it possible to grow to the population it is today, around 22,000 (VCMWD’s total service area population is 29,700.)
What made that all possible was the creation of the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) in 1944 and the completion of the 1st San Diego Aqueduct in the later 1940s’s. The Aqueduct’s purpose was to bring water from the Colorado River to San Diego County, from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (the “Met”) to provide something more than the area’s limited groundwater and streams that flowed during rainy seasons like we have had this year, but otherwise not so much.
Having an eco-friendly yard doesn’t have to mean replacing a lawn with sand and succulents. Ann-Marie Benz, California Native Plant Society’s horticulture program manager, says creating a drought-resilient landscape has a bad reputation. Creating a native, water-wise yard can be rewarding — and done with a personal flair.
Six students from schools in the Otay Water District are the winners of the annual Student Poster Contest. More than 53 students submitted entries from schools in Chula Vista, El Cajon, and Spring Valley. The poster art depicts the value of water and using water wisely.
