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San Elijo JPA Announces $18.3M Project for Water Treatment Upgrades

/in , /by /North County Current

A project announced by the San Elijo Joint Powers Authority on Monday, April 3, aims to capture more than 7 million gallons of stormwater per year and redirect pollutants from entering the San Elijo Lagoon, in addition to other water infrastructure improvements.

The $18.3 million project, recently approved by JPA directors, involves upgrades to drainage and water treatment infrastructure in Encinitas, according to a San Elijo JPA news release. Work is slated for 2024 and expected to take 10 months to complete.

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Water Conservation Still Necessary for Carlsbad Residents

/in , /by /Patch.comby Ashley Ludwig

Though recent rains have helped, the city of Carlsbad is still striving to conserve water. The rains have helped, but conservation is still needed, according to the Carlsbad City Manager’s office.

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Erik A. Groset Appointed to Fill Vallecitos Water District’s Vacant Board Seat

/in , , /by /San Elijo Life.com

During a special meeting on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, the Vallecitos Water District Board of Directors selected Carlsbad resident Erik A. Groset to fill their vacant Division 4 Board seat. He will represent parts of San Marcos, Carlsbad, and portions of the Lake San Marcos community and assist in setting District water and sewer direction through November 5, 2024.

Groset is a La Costa Ridge resident in Vallecitos’ Division 4. He lives there with his wife, Tiffany, and two daughters. As a local startup entrepreneur and the CEO/Chairman of his own board, he is looking to give back to the community by serving on the Vallecitos Board of Directors. Groset looks to bring to the board his entrepreneurial spirit, fresh perspective, and passion for business and engineering.

Erik A Groset-Vallecitos Water District-Division 4 Board seat

The Vallecitos Water District Board of Directors selected Carlsbad resident Erik A. Groset to fill their vacant Division 4 Board seat. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Giving back to the community

Groset has relevant public experience, having recently served on the board of advisors at the business school at California State University San Marcos. He is an alumnus of that university. Further, Groset volunteers for the technical career advisory board at Carlsbad High School.

Groset is joined by Directors Jim Pennock, Division 1, Jim Hernandez, Division 2, Craig Elitharp, Division 3, and Dr. Tiffany Boyd-Hodgson, Division 5, to make up the five-member Vallecitos Water District Board. The Board typically meets at 5:00 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of each month at the District’s Administration, Maintenance, and Operations facility located at 201 Vallecitos de Oro in San Marcos.

(Editors Note: The Vallecitos Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.  As an independent, special district, Vallecitos is dedicated to providing water, wastewater, and reclamation services to over 105,000 people in a 45-square-mile area that includes San Marcos; the community of Lake San Marcos; portions of Carlsbad, Escondido and Vista; and other surrounding unincorporated areas.)

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WaterSmart Makeover: Welcoming a Sense of Whimsy

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Caron Golden Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Cathy and Mike Godfrey’s most recent front yard landscape project was not their first rodeo. The couple, who bought their Carlsbad house in August 1997 and are empty nesters with two adult daughters, are avid gardeners and DIYers.

Twenty years ago, Cathy dug 40 holes to sink posts for the white picket fence that encircles their small front yard. They reduced the scale of the lawn (mostly to discourage neighborhood dogs being walked from pooping on their property) and, for a tropical look, added palms and decorative plants like red fountain grass, which Cathy said they regretted.

(Editor’s Note:This is the second in an occasional series on winners of the annual WaterSmart Landscape Contest, conducted in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority. To learn about entering the next contest, visit landscapecontest.com.)

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The Promise and Pitfalls of Desalination

/in , , /by /The Economist Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Carlsbad State Beach is a Southern California idyll. Palm trees adorn the cliffs above the sand, and surfers paddle out for the waves. From the beach it is impossible to tell that a huge desalination plant not half a mile away is sucking in seawater to produce 50 million gallons of new drinking water each day. It is the largest in America—for now. Soon it may share that title with a proposed sister plant 60 miles (97km) north in Huntington Beach. But only if that one is built.

Poseidon Water, the developer that also built the Carlsbad plant, first proposed the Huntington Beach facility in the 1990s. But it has taken the company more than two decades to persuade Californians of the plant’s necessity.

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Carlsbad to Increase Water, Sewer Rates

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Carlsbad plans to increase its water and sewer rates in 2022, the first of three steps that will boost the average family’s current monthly combined water and sewer bill by a total of $24.78 in 2024.

The City Council voted unanimously last week to set a public hearing on the new rates for 5 p.m. Jan. 11. If approved, the first higher rate will take effect on March 1 with additional increases on Jan. 1 of the next two years.

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Precautions in Place to Protect County’s Drinking Water from Oil Spill

/in , , /by /10 News (KGTV)by Nia Watson Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

CARLSBAD, Calif. (KGTV) — One of San Diego County’s largest sources of locally produced drinking water is closely monitoring the impact the oil spill off the coast of Orange County could have in the area.

The Carlsbad Desalination Plant provides 10% of San Diego County’s drinking water and produces 50 million gallons of desalinated seawater a day.

The facility was developed and is managed by Poseidon Water in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority.

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Carlsbad Desalination Plant-oil spill-Lagoon-boom protection

Desal Plant Operations Continue; Protective Boom Installed at Lagoon

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

(Editor’s note: As of Friday, October 8, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant continues operating at full production with no indication of oil in the feed water. As a precautionary measure, protective booms have been placed at several locations in the Aqua Hedionda Lagoon, including in front of the desalination plant intake).

Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority issued the following joint statement in response to emergency response efforts following the recent oil spill off the coast of Orange County. No oil has been detected by the plant’s monitoring system.

“The San Diego County Water Authority and Poseidon Water appreciate precautionary efforts by state emergency response crews to install a protective boom at the mouth of Agua Hedionda Lagoon, which provides intake water for the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. State agencies are also installing a second barrier near the plant intake.

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Tarballs Found Along San Diego Coastline, Orange County Oil Spill Suspected

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

Large clusters of tarballs were found along beaches in Oceanside and Carlsbad, San Diego County officials said Thursday, with similar reports being made in Encinitas and Del Mar.

The black balls of tar, about the size of a quarter, are suspected to have come from the massive oil spill off the coast of Orange County, where a ruptured pipeline has spewed more than 144,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean.

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Carlsbad Flower Fields Open With COVID-19 Restrictions

/in , /by /KPBS San Diegoby Tania Thorne

The Carlsbad Flower Fields are in bloom and open for visitors. Guests wanting to visit the blooming acres of flowers will need to follow some new rules. Reservations to visit the Flower Fields will need to be made online. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

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