The city of San Diego and East County leaders have resolved a months-long dispute over a planned water recycling project, heading off a potentially expensive court fight over what to do with the plant’s waste.
SAN DIEGO – Due to past rainfall and a state mandate with regard to water level, the City of San Diego is scheduled to release approximately 250 million gallons of water from Hodges Reservoir into the San Dieguito River. This will lower the current water level by approximately 2 feet. The water release, using valves in the dam, is scheduled to begin Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, and will continue for approximately two days until the reservoir elevation is approximately 275 feet.
SAN DIEGO – As the City of San Diego continues to make major progress on one of the largest infrastructure projects in the City’s history, there will be temporary impacts to some water activities at Miramar Reservoir. For the safety of residents and visitors, water activities at Miramar will be suspended beginning next week through early 2023 due to pipeline construction work for the Pure Water Program. Shore areas, including picnic and barbecue areas, paths and shore fishing, will remain accessible to the public during the project.
Water activities will also be suspended in mid-2023 during a second phase of the pipeline project. During these two construction periods, boats, canoes, kayaks and float tubes will not be allowed. The 1-mile pipeline at Miramar Reservoir will include pipeline assembly on barges on the surface of the reservoir before being sunk and permanently installed underwater. The first phase of construction includes the completion of tunneling into the reservoir (mid-November 2022 to early 2023) and the second phase, starting mid-2023, will include the construction of the pipeline on the reservoir.
“This pipeline project is a crucial part of the Pure Water Program that will be vital to providing drinking water in the future,” said Juan Guerreiro, Director of the City’s Public Utilities Department. “We are focused on limiting the impacts to our facilities while this work is underway, and we appreciate the public’s patience during the construction phases.”
The project team will work to minimize inconveniences associated with traffic, construction noise and large construction equipment, but please plan extra time for parking when visiting the reservoir.
Pure Water San Diego is the City’s phased, multi-year program that will provide nearly half of our water supply locally by 2035. Pure Water will use proven purification technology to clean recycled water and produce safe, high-quality drinking water. The program offers a cost effective investment for San Diego’s water needs and will provide a reliable, sustainable water supply.
The San Diego County Water Authority wants to keep the lights on, even when the Sun goes down. It plans to use San Vicente Reservoir to store solar power energy in so-called water batteries to maximize the city’s renewable energy potential, NPR reports.
Cities across California have an abundance of sunny days, which is perfect for providing renewable energy… as long as the Sun is up. The proposed project could store 4,000 megawatt-hours of energy per day, which could power 135,000 homes after the Sun goes down. To make this possible, the San Diego Water Authority would create a smaller upper reservoir just above the existing San Vicente Reservoir. These would be connected by a tunnel system and an underground powerhouse.
San Diego officials say they will complete a long-delayed comprehensive analysis of city water rates this year that could lead to sharp increases to help pay for major infrastructure projects such as the Pure Water sewage purification system now under construction.
The last time San Diego completed such an analysis in 2015, city officials voted to raise water rates by 40 percent over four years.
The San Diego City Council met on Tuesday and passed a 3% increase in water rates to residents of the city.
The water rate increase comes after the San Diego County Water Authority, San Diego’s supplier of water, increased its rates by about 5% for treated water and nearly 4% for untreated water.
While repairing parts of Hodges Reservoir Dam, city workers found additional defects that need to be addressed, likely delaying the completion of repairs by several months, the city announced Monday.
During a prior inspection, city workers identified areas in the dam wall that required repair and needed to be sealed. To access areas on the dam for repair, the water level of the reservoir was lowered 18 feet to an elevation of 275 feet by transferring water to other reservoirs and treatment plants, officials said.
In the coming year San Diegans may be made to pay up to 3% more for running water. Tuesday, Sept. 20 San Diego City Council voted on whether or not to move forward with rate increases.
A rate hike could be the second time in the last two years the price for water could go up.
Ongoing repairs currently underway at Hodges Reservoir Dam have led the City of San Diego to determine more work is needed to address additional defects that were detected and to ensure the safety of the dam. This discovery will likely delay completion of this crucial repair project by several months.
Months after a judge ruled the City of San Diego is overcharging some water customers, the city has yet to pay up, or make changes to its rates.
Attorneys say the delay is costing taxpayers millions in penalty fees.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
