Supply and Demand

News updates on the regional water supply and water use, including current reports, future projections, and long-term planning.

Pure Water Oceanside Groundbreaking-February-2020-Pure Water-IRWM-Primary

San Diego Region on Track to Receive $15 Million for Water Projects

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Several regional water supply projects in San Diego County are on track to receive a total of more than $15 million from the California Department of Water Resources, pending a final decision on the grants this summer. Money for the projects has been recommended by DWR, which will make the awards after a public comment […]

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Laundry dryer-Helix Water District-COVID-19-coronavirus 2020

COVID-19: Water Use When We Stay Home

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Now that most of us are at home more, you may be wondering “how much more water am I using?” The good news is, it’s probably less than you think. This is because the activities that use the most water  – such as outdoor irrigation, showering and doing laundry – happen at the same weekly […]

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Artwork from Colton, age six, thanking the ten Carlsbad desalination plant workers sheltering in place to maintain operations. Courtesy: Poseidon Water Community Thanks Desalination

Community Thanks Desalination Plant Workers For Sacrifice

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Expressions of gratitude and support have poured in from a grateful community to the ten volunteers sheltering in place at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant in San Diego County. As people learned about their effort to maintain plant operations and keep the water flowing during the COVID-19 pandemic, residents responded by expressing their […]

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COVID-19: Water Associations Reassure Public Tap Water Safe to Drink

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As the global COVID-19 outbreak continues to develop and reports of bottled water shortages make headlines, the National Association of Water Companies, the American Water Works Association and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies recently issued a joint statement about the quality of tap water in North America. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, America’s […]

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IRWM - SD Wild Animal Park Biofiltration Wetland

Projects Create Wetlands, Improve Water Quality in San Diego Region

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Since 2005, the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Program has supported and funded water conservation, water quality and resource projects throughout San Diego County. Program partners, including staff of the San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies, the California Department of Water Resources, and regional water industry leaders, met at the […]

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Sierra Nevada Snowpack Feb 27 2020 California DWR-WNN

California’s Winter: Wet Times, Dry Times and Water Supplies

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After a wet and snowy start, California’s winter has gone bust. The 2019-2020 water year started off with robust precipitation after a series of storms in November and early December 2019. But the new year has not been as bountiful. Dry conditions in January and February added little to the Sierra Nevada snowpack. Drought-resilient water […]

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During today’s ceremony, city leaders and water experts placed a giant Google Maps “location pin” into the ground at the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility, which marked that the new recycled water project is now officially on the map. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

First Advanced Water Purification Facility in San Diego County is On the Map

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City of Oceanside officials and regional water industry leaders gathered today to break ground on Pure Water Oceanside, the first advanced water purification facility in San Diego County. The $67 million project – scheduled to be completed in 2021 – will purify recycled water sourced from the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility. “Today, we […]

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Water Agencies Team Up to Reduce Potable Water Use

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The Olivenhain Municipal Water District and Leucadia Wastewater District are reducing potable water use by switching to recycled water to flush sewer lines in their service areas. With the recent installation of new equipment by both agencies, recycled water is now available to Leucadia for sewer line maintenance in the Village Park neighborhood in Encinitas […]

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Portfolio Tour July 2019

California Agencies Release Draft Water Resilience Portfolio

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Three California state agencies today released a draft water resilience portfolio intended to help the state manage more extreme droughts and floods, aging infrastructure, declining fish populations and other challenges. The California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Food and Agriculture developed the draft to fulfill Governor Gavin Newsom’s April 29, […]

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Crews loaded the 130,000 pound stainless steel cone onto a barge and finished assembling it above water before lowering it into the reservoir. Image: Water Authority

New Oxygenation System to Improve Reservoir Water Quality

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The City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department last week took a major step toward completing an innovative project to improve water quality in Lake Hodges. A newly installed oxygenation system, designed by city engineers, will introduce highly oxygenated water to the bottom of the reservoir to reduce the accumulation of excess nutrients and harmful […]

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San Diego County Water Authority Special Agricultural Water Rate program

New Agricultural Water Rate Program Benefits San Diego County Growers

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The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors Nov. 21 approved a new and permanent Special Agricultural Water Rate program structure that offers lower water rates to farmers in exchange for lower water supply reliability. Unlike the current temporary program, the structure of the new water rate program will let new participants join as […]

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Mammoth Mountain received record snowfall in May 2019. Photo: Mammoth Mountain, Inc. California Reservoirs

Water Year 2020 Begins With Robust Reservoir Storage

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Last winter was a bountiful one in terms of water supply for California, but it’s still too early to tell whether 2020 will be as generous. The 2018-19 winter was one for the record books, with above-average precipitation. Snow continued to fall in late-spring, with several inches or more in the Sierra Nevada and the […]

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San Diego regional water quality regulators issued a new permit for the development of permanent, stand-alone seawater intake and discharge facilities at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Photo: Water Authority

Fitch Boosts Desalination Plant Bond Rating

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Bonds from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and pipeline were upgraded to BBB and given a stable outlook in a new report from Fitch Ratings, affirming the project’s sound management and its ability to provide a stable, reliable source of drinking water to the San Diego region. As the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient plant […]

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(L to R): Sandy Kerl, San Diego County Water Authority acting general manager; Cynthia Koeler, WaterNow Alliance executive director; Paula Kehoe, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission director of water resources; and California-Nevada Section of AWWA Executive Director Tim Worley. Photo: Water Authority

‘Big Ideas’ Diversify San Diego Region’s Reliable Water Supply

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Ensuring water for future generations requires investing and investigating big ideas, according to Sandy Kerl. Kerl, acting general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, shared some of those ideas today in San Diego, as she delivered the opening remarks at the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association annual fall conference, which […]

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Visitors learn about technology used to purify and recycle water at a recent Pure Water Oceanside open house. Photo: City of Oceanside

Pure Water Oceanside Project Construction Slated For 2020

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The City of Oceanside is joining the City of San Diego and East San Diego County in adding advanced purified water to its drinking water supply. The Pure Water Oceanside project is expected to break ground next spring and begin producing advanced purified water in 2022. The Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Helix Water District […]

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