Tag Archive for: CBS 8

Local Media Turn To Water Authority at Start of Dry Year

As San Diego enters the driest start to the water year since record keeping began in 1860, the San Diego County Water Authority has the reliable water supplies needed by the region for 2025 and beyond.

“We’ve been preparing for over three decades to have reliable water supplies, whether we’re in a drought or whether we have a wet year,” Water Authority Senior Water Resource Specialist Efren Lopez told CBS 8. “We have a lot of emergency storage in case there’s a disruption to our system.”

With coverage from CBS, KPBS and KUSI/Fox 5, the Water Authority has been informing and updating the public at every available opportunity.

The City of San Diego recorded only 0.14 inches of rain since Oct. 1, when typically it would have received between three and four inches.

While the lack of rain negatively impacts San Diego County’s flora and fauna — including increasing fire risk during the Santa Ana windstorms — the San Diego region doesn’t depend on local rainfall to supply the water that powers our economy and sustains our quality of life. Instead, the region uses a combination of desalinated seawater, conserved water from the Colorado River, recycled water, and runoff from the Sierra.

“San Diegans don’t need to worry about any water restrictions or any conservation mandates — we have plenty of water,” Lopez said.

Meanwhile, Northern California has been relatively wet. That means the state’s six major reservoirs are at 121% of their historical average levels at the beginning of 2025, slightly better than the same time last year. Additionally, the statewide snowpack is 115% of its historical average.

Precipitation over the next few months will be key to determining the state’s overall water supply for 2025. Regardless, the San Diego region has sufficient water for the foreseeable future.

What Do La Niña Conditions Mean for Precipitation in San Diego and California?

As of October 1st, the rain calendar was reset and we are officially in the rainy season now through April. But La Niña is still in place for the third year in a row with its cooler sea surface temperatures, something that rarely happens.

While we are entering what’s considered our rainy season, San Diego is also potentially heading into its third year of the drought, the state of California is in its fourth year of the drought and it’s the third year in a row of La Niña.

 

Boulevard Residents are Running Out of Water, It’s Not Because of the Drought

Residents living in Boulevard say they’re running out of water, and it’s not because of the drought.

They blame the lack of water on one of their neighbors, who they say is building a lake on his property.

San Diego County Water Authority Water Resources Specialist Efren Lopez joined CBS 8’s Carlo Cechetto to discuss additional ways San Diegans can reduce their water use. Photo: CBS 8 water saving tips

Water Authority Offers Water Saving Tips on CBS 8

As the current drought stretches into a third year, the San Diego County Water Authority is providing water saving tips as part of a drought survival kit to San Diegans.

Scientists confirm California and the Southwest U.S. is experiencing the worst megadrought in the last 1,200 years. It has prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to order new emergency water rules and cutbacks with the goal of preparing the state for a 10% decrease in the available water supply by 2040.

“The hots are getting a lot hotter, the dries are getting a lot drier and … the wets are getting wetter,” Newsom said in announcing the plan at a desalination plant under construction in Antioch, 45 miles inland from San Francisco, that will turn brackish water into drinking water.

Water saving tips

Many years ago, San Diego regional water leaders had the foresight to call for conservation efforts to help build our resilience. Now we are in a more fortunate position thanks to our diversified water supply than much of the state.

San Diegans have learned how to conserve water, but there is always more we can do. San Diego County Water Authority Water Resources Specialist Efren Lopez joined CBS 8 Anchor and Reporter Carlo Cecchetto on the news program “The Four” to discuss the Governor’s report and offer additional ways San Diegans can reduce water use.

Water conservation is a way of life

“San Diego’s great at conservation. Conservation is a way of life here, but there is always something more we can do,” said Lopez. He suggests homeowners use a shutoff nozzle when hand watering using their garden hose and test soil with a moisture sensor to determine when soil is dry enough before irrigating.

In addition to water-saving measures, San Diego County residents can take advantage of the Water Authority’s rebate programs for turf replacement, irrigation devices, and WaterSmart landscape gardens. Countywide, San Diegans have removed more than one million square feet of turf through rebate programs, resulting in annual water savings of 36.5 million gallons.

“In San Diego, we’ve been diversifying our water supply for decades,” said Lopez. “So we’re prepared for this drought. It’s great to see the governor supportive of resilient supplies and a portfolio approach to our water supply so that we don’t rely on just one source.”

Lopez encouraged San Diego County residents to get additional tips for saving water at www.watersmartSD.org.

California Fails to Test 1.4 Million Children for Potential Lead Poisoning

A recent report by the California State Auditor revealed lead poisoning remains a big threat to children. It said California is failing when it comes to testing children who are most at risk.

Lead poisoning is known as the silent epidemic. There are typically no symptoms and it can cause irreversible damage to a child’s developing brain.

A startling number of kids are slipping through the cracks when it comes to testing, according to statistics released in the report.

Activists Say Grebe Eggs And Chicks Dying At Lake Hodges Due To Water Pumping

Lake Hodges is home to a lot of wildlife including Grebes – the black and white birds that can be seen year-round, but some say their nests are being destroyed over something that’s completely preventable. Brian Caldwell, a nearby resident and operator of Lake Hodges Photo Tours, visits the area often. Over the past couple of years, he has noticed an alarming trend.

San Diego Reservoirs Fill up As More Rain And Snow Moves Into Region

Forecasters said Tuesday that California’s markedly wet winter will continue to deliver significant rain and copious high-elevation snow to the saturated San Diego area this week. From tomorrow afternoon through early Friday, another cold storm is expected to drop a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch of moisture along the coast, three-quarters of an inch to 1.5 inches in the inland valleys, 1.5 to two inches in the mountains, and 0.1 to 0.2 of an inch in the deserts, according to the National Weather Service.

Strong Winter Storm To Bring Heavy Rain To San Diego County

A final round of precipitation, possibly the heaviest of the week, is expected in San Diego County Thursday along with high winds in the mountains and high surf at the beaches. As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, the wet weather over the past four days had brought the least rain to San Ysidro — at 0.63 of an inch — while Julian received the brunt of the storms — with 2.24 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Along the coast, Oceanside received 1.35 inches over the four-day span while Brown Field airport in Otay Mesa got 0.65 of an inch, Carlsbad received 0.88 of an inch and the San Diego International Airport was doused by 0.67 of an inch.

Carlsbad Desalination Plant Celebrates 40 Billionth Gallon Of Water

Representatives from San Diego County and Poseidon Water held a celebration on Thursday for the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant producing its 40 billionth gallon of drinking water. The celebration also correlated with the third anniversary of the plant opening. The Carlsbad plant produces more than 50 million gallons of desalinated water each day and is the largest and most technologically advanced desalination plant in the U.S., according to the county.

San Diego Received More Rain In Three Months Than All Of Last Year

The recent fall storms that soaked San Diego set rainfall records across the county – putting a dent in the drought and making a difference at local lakes. Adam Roser is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Some of the areas got over two or three inches. Usually, it’s confined to the mountains – kind of the higher precipitation totals. This time it was a lot of places on the coast.” The National Weather Service said San Diego Airport received over 2.5 inches of rain. In just three months, San Diego received 3.98-inches of rainfall – more than the 3.34-inches of rain San Diego received in all of last year.