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Despite ‘Multitude of Risks,’ San Diego Region Could Tap Cash Reserves to Blunt Spiking Water Rates

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

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.

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As Floods Endanger the San Joaquin Valley, Newsom Cuts Funding for Floodplains

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Alastair Bland

Last fall, when the state Legislature authorized $40 million for floodplain restoration, Julie Rentner knew just what she would do with it. Her group, River Partners, would spend more than a quarter of the funds buying a 500-acre dairy farm abutting the San Joaquin River in Stanislaus County.

Then millions more would be spent on removing debris, sheds, manure heaps and levees. They would plant native vegetation, and eventually restore the parcel to its natural state as a woodland and floodplain.

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