What San Diego’s Water Divorce Might Cost You
Two small farming communities want to bail on buying water in San Diego because it’s too expensive, but that means everyone else would have to pick up part of their tab.
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Majority of Californians Fear Worsening Weather Swings Due to Climate Change, Poll Finds
As California continues to experience swings from one weather extreme to another, a majority of residents say they are increasingly concerned about the state’s changing climate, and some worry that weather impacts could force them to move in the future.
Nearly 70% of registered voters say they expect that volatile fluctuations between severe drought and periods of heavy rain and snow — what some call weather whiplash — will become more common in the future due to climate change, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
Lake Hodges Reopens After Extensive Repair to Hodges Reservoir Dam
San Diego’s infamous Lake Hodges was reopened to the community after being closed since mid-2022 due to critical repair work of the Hodges Reservoir Dam.
The City of San Diego officials announced that Lake Hodges would reopen on Wednesday, May 31, but only on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from sunrise to sunset.
Can This $24 Device Help You Be More Water-wise? We Decided to Find Out
Last fall, before the epic, near-biblical rains of early 2023 pushed California’s historic drought off our collective radar, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced a pilot water-conservation program that sounded too good to be true.
According to the announcement, for just $24, single-family homeowners in the city would be able to track real-time water usage, detect leaks and create a water budget from a smartphone app using a Wi-Fi-enabled, easy-to-install Flume water-meter sensor.
Assembly Bill Would Require Countywide Vote for Fallbrook, Rainbow to Exit Water Authority
An Assembly bill introduced late last week would require a countywide vote before two agricultural districts in north San Diego County could leave the San Diego County Water Authority.
Assembly Bill 530, introduced Thursday by Tasha Boerner Horvath of Encinitas, would amend California’s Water Authority Act, to require a majority vote in both the separating district and the county to complete a detachment.
California Agreed to Reduce Its Colorado River Usage, but San Diego Might Not See a Change
In a historic consensus, California, alongside the six other states that rely on the Colorado River for survival, announced an agreement last week for a plan to cut back water usage over the next three years.
The proposal drafted by the three lower basin states – California, Arizona and Nevada – would cut water use from the river by at least 3 million acre-feet by the end of 2026 through conservation to prevent the river’s reservoirs from falling to critically low levels.
Supreme Court Scales Back Clean Water Protections. What Does It Mean for California?
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision scaling back federal protections for many wetlands and streams has drawn criticism from scientists and environmental advocates, who say the gutting of safeguards will jeopardize water quality throughout the arid West.
California’s water regulators say the ruling will be harmful for protections nationwide, but the more stringent state protections of wetlands won’t be affected.
Despite ‘Multitude of Risks,’ San Diego Region Could Tap Cash Reserves to Blunt Spiking Water Rates
San Diego leaders have directed the region’s water wholesaler to pinch every penny this year in the agency’s $1.8 billion budget, as ratepayers continue to grapple with ever-higher utility bills.
The San Diego County Water Authority has in response made substantial changes to its spending plan, looking to cut several positions and delay about $48 million in capital projects, including a pumped hydropower facility at San Vicente Dam.
“Thanks for Planting Me!” Spokesplants Promote Landscape Transformation
“Thanks for Planting Me!” encourages more widespread adoption of sustainable landscapes to prepare the Southern California region for a hotter and drier climate.
The “Thanks for Planting Me!” summer campaign offers gratitude to the hundreds of thousands of San Diegans who have transformed their landscapes using low-water and native plants as part of a larger effort to use water more efficiently. Thanks for Planting Me! also is intended to show resident the WaterSmart advantages of embracing regenerative low-water landscapes as climate change stresses water supplies across the Southwest.
Outstanding Students Receive Helix Water District College Scholarships
Valhalla High School senior Lily Martinez and Grossmont High School senior Stephen Abkin are the 2023 recipients of the Helix Water District’s Robert D. Friedgen and Dr. Lillian M. Childs college scholarships. Martinez and Abkin were presented with their $1,000 scholarships at the May Board of Directors meeting.
