By taking a watershed approach to his landscape redesign, homeowner Brad Lefkowits won the Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s 2023 Landscape Makeover Contest. The WaterSmart Landscape Contest is held annually by water agencies throughout San Diego County.
The Santa Fe Irrigation District commemorated its 100-year anniversary at a “Century of Service” celebration on June 21 with community leaders and neighbors.
The district was established in 1923 as a California Special District under the Irrigation District Act of 1887 and currently provides drinking and recycled water services for more than 19,800 residents in the City of Solana Beach, as well as the unincorporated communities of Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch.
Most of California exists under dueling states of emergency. Since February, storms have caused emergency-level flooding and damage in 47 of the state’s 58 counties, yet most of California only recently exited a drought emergency.
One rainy season can’t supplant years of drought, but images of flooded cities and towns — and the injuries and deaths caused by these disasters — are made more painful when we hear that our state is running out of water nevertheless. The question that water managers and state policymakers must address is how to adapt our water system to eliminate the dual states of emergency.
Rep. Scott Peters has called on Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila to provide updates on the status of projects in Mexico to reduce wastewater pollution, including the construction of a new sewage treatment facility in Tijuana. Mexico has pledged to spend $144 million in 2022 to build sanitation infrastructure to stop the sewage outflow that frequently forces beaches to close in San Diego County.
News reports about the campaign for La Jolla to secede from San Diego overlook some basic facts about critical infrastructure that will make or break a Southern California city in the next 30 years. The simple, visible elements like potholes, streetlights and sidewalks are only a tiny fraction of the infrastructure puzzle. The real problem is the water and sewer infrastructure that we don’t see.
The San Diego County Water Authority board approved a 9.5% increase in wholesale water rates for its member agencies in 2024, citing the need to fund critical water supply projects.
The authority’s $1.85 billion budget for the next two years includes capital projects considered “critical for maintaining safe and reliable water supplies” in the event California returns to drought.
The impact of the wholesale rate increase on residential rates will vary based on the amount of water used by each of the 24 member agencies in the county, as well as individual usage by customers.
“The board and staff have worked tirelessly for months to minimize rate increases while supporting the reliability of our water supply,” said Board Chair Mel Katz. “Despite cost increases created by extraordinary inflation and depressed water sales, we have a budget that allows the water authority to do what it does best — provide the water that sustains our economy and quality of life.”
Officials blamed the lower water sales on an exceptionally wet and cool winter following years of drought.
The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors approved a 9.5% wholesale water rates increase on Thursday. NBC 7’s Joe Little has more.
You can now add water to the list of things that are going up in cost. The San Diego County Water Authority just approved a 9.5% rate hike on wholesale water, starting in 2024.
It’s been more than 550 days since the ocean water at Imperial Beach has been safe for swimmers and surfers.
Between wastewater treatment plant repairs and expansions, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but city leaders say all hands on deck are needed to make progress.
The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors June 22 approved wholesale water rates for 2024 following a public hearing and also approved the recommended budget for the next two fiscal years.
