Tag Archive for: Climate Change

San Diego County Water Authority And its 24 Member Agencies

Water Authority Issues Statement on Consensus-Based Plan for the Colorado River

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May 22, 2023 – San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl today issued the following statement regarding a new consensus-based plan to conserve water on the Colorado River:

“Today, the Lower Colorado River Basin states, California, Arizona, and Nevada, provided the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation with a plan to conserve up to 3 million acre-feet on the river through 2026 to address long-term drought and protect elevations in Lakes Mead and Powell, the two critical reservoirs the Lower Basin depends on for its river supplies.

“This consensus-based plan was offered to replace alternatives Reclamation is considering under its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), released in April to consider changes to the river’s near-term operations. Those existing alternatives, one of which would bypass the Colorado River priority right system so important to California, would potentially mandate reductions to the Lower Basin.

“With the new proposal, Reclamation has announced it is temporarily suspending the SEIS process to allow more time to analyze the Lower Basin proposed plan. As a result, the May 30 deadline for comment letters on the draft SEIS is no longer in effect. As part of its announcement, Reclamation stated it plans to complete the SEIS process later this year.

“The Water Authority applauds the efforts of California, through the Colorado River Board of California, of which the Water Authority is a member, for working closely with the other Lower Basin states to develop a consensus proposal to submit to Reclamation. The Water Authority has been a long-time advocate of collaboration on the Colorado River, and today’s announcement appears to be a positive step in that direction.

“The Water Authority continues to review this proposal, which relies upon voluntary and federally compensated conservation as opposed to mandatory reductions, to make sure it best serves California, protects our region’s Colorado River supplies, and provides equitable, realistic solutions in the near term that will keep the river flowing for all users. If that end is achieved, we can then focus our attention on planning for the river’s long-term operations in a balanced Basin-wide approach.”

(Editor’s Note: Attached are two letters, including the Lower Basin proposal to Reclamation, and a letter from all seven Basin states calling on Reclamation to pause the SEIS process to review the Lower Basin proposed plan. To see the federal response, click the following link – www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-historic-consensus-system-conservation-proposal)

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Before and after views of the Lake San Marocs Mall III Homeowners Association makeover. Photo: Vallecitos Water District makeover conserves water

Makeovers Conserve Water, Saves Costs for Lake San Marcos HOAs

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Through a partnership between the Vallecitos Water District, San Diego County Water Authority, and the County of San Diego, landscape makeover projects in unincorporated areas can take advantage of water-use efficiency rebates as well as professional expertise to maximize conservation and cost savings.

The Waterscape Rebate Program applies to residential, commercial, and agricultural customers who make landscape upgrades to improve the region’s climate resilience and reduce the flow of pollutants into waterways.

The landscape makeover project solicited input from homeowners to provide new amenities. Photo: Vallecitos Water District makeover conserves water

The landscape makeover project solicited input from homeowners to provide new amenities. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Multiple homeowners associations within the Lake San Marcos area of the Vallecitos Water District have benefitted from qualifying projects. The scale of these projects and potential savings make them especially successful.

The most recently completed project within the Vallecitos Water District was undertaken by the Mall III Homeowners Association. HOA members had discussed the idea for nearly 15 years. The availability of the County and Vallecitos Water District support helped determine whether the makeover would be effective and cost-neutral.

Agency partnerships pay off

“This has been a terrific partnership between the County of San Diego, the San Diego County Water Authority, the Vallecitos Water District, and the community of Lake San Marcos,” said Chris Robbins, public information/conservation supervisor for the Vallecitos Water District. “This story focuses on the Mall III Homeowners Association, but the Panorama HOA and Sunrise Pointe HOA already participated in the program. Two other associations, Fairway Knolls and Fairways HOA, are currently in the process right now. All these HOAs will be saving water and money, while also improving the water quality of Lake San Marcos.”

The Mall III HOA landscaping before undertaking its recent makeover project. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

The Mall III HOA landscaping before undertaking its recent makeover project. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Mike Kesler, Mall III HOA Board President, said getting an internal consensus among their homeowners through actively soliciting ideas from homeowners to learn what was important to them was critical in completing this project.

“We found some folks wanted trees. Other folks didn’t want trees because they would block the view,” said Kesler. “Knowing that ahead of time and being able to deal with that in the plan made it easier for people to vote yes on the project. And I think that’s important.

“It took us quite a while to get to a layout that accomplished our goals of saving money and beautifying the area that was net zero from a cost standpoint.”

Consensus building accomplishes savings goals

New pathways and riverbeds to channel water runoff help protect area watersheds. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

New pathways and riverbeds to channel water runoff help protect area watersheds. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

To make applying for rebates easier for large landscapes, the County added a Landscape Optimization Service, a unique technical assistance program for large-scale landscaping projects. The program helps applicants with large landscapes, such as HOAs and commercial properties, to navigate the requirements, overcome any barriers, and maximize their rebate eligibility.

In addition, the Vallecitos Water District offers its customers a free assessment of current water use to determine whether investments in irrigation upgrades could be helpful to help HOA boards and other decision-makers determine whether their investment in landscaping projects are cost-effective.

“It’s been a great program for us to pursue and to implement, ” said Mall III HOA Board Member Dave Engel. “We had a need to save water, and to do it in a smart way, which is what this rebate program allows. When those two come together, I think it’s a good match.”

Rebate programs helped to make the Lake San Marcos Mall III HOA project cost-neutral for homeowners. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Rebate programs helped to make the Lake San Marcos Mall III HOA project cost-neutral for homeowners. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Rebate amounts can vary. Multiple rebates can be stacked together, including $3 per square foot for turf replacement, $60 per smart controller station, $65 per rain barrel and up to $450 per cistern. The County of San Diego offers $1 per square foot for landscapes planted with California native plants.

Water customers in unincorporated San Diego County can determine their eligibility at: SanDiegoCounty.gov/WatershedRebates. More information on the Landscape Optimization Service can be found here. The program is actively recruiting new participants.

The Waterscape Rebate Program helps protect local waterways by reducing pollutants that enter storm drains. When irrigation systems overflow from landscaping, runoff may carry pollutants like pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers into the storm drain system and cause the same negative effects as runoff from rainfall. Reducing turf helps reduce irrigation use and runoff. HOA landscapes are potentially significant contributors.

Learn more about the County of San Diego Watershed Protection at its website.

(Editor’s 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.) 

Incredible Shrinking Lakes: Humans, Climate Change, Diversion Costs Trillions of Gallons Annually

/in , , /by /APby Seth Borenstein

Climate change’s hotter temperatures and society’s diversion of water have been shrinking the world’s lakes by trillions of gallons of water a year since the early 1990s, a new study finds.

A close examination of nearly 2,000 of the world’s largest lakes found they are losing about 5.7 trillion gallons (21.5 trillion liters) a year. That means from 1992 to 2020, the world lost the equivalent of 17 Lake Meads, America’s largest reservoir, in Nevada. It’s also roughly equal to how much water the United States used in an entire year in 2015.

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Newsom Unveils Sweeping Plan to Speed Up California Infrastructure Projects

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Liam Dillon and Hannah Wiley

Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to unveil a sweeping package of legislation and sign an executive order Friday to make it easier to build transportation, clean energy, water and other infrastructure across California, a move intended to capitalize on an infusion of money from the Biden administration to boost climate-friendly construction projects.

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El Niños Are Far Costlier Than Once Thought, in the Trillions, Study Says — and One’s Brewing Now

/in , /by /AP Newsby Seth Borenstein

 The natural burst of El Niño warming that changes weather worldwide is far costlier with longer-lasting expenses than experts had thought, averaging trillions of dollars in damage, a new study found.

An El Niño is brewing now and it might be a big — and therefore costly — one, scientists said. El Niño is a temporary and natural warming of parts of the equatorial Pacific, that causes droughts, floods and heat waves in different parts of the world. It also adds an extra boost to human-caused warming.

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California’s Atmopsheric River Storms Ranked as a Billion-Dollar Disaster by NOAA

/in , , /by /KCRA 3by Heather Waldman

So far, in 2023, seven different weather and climate-related disasters have cost the United States at least $1 billion.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data dating back to 1980, that is the second-highest number of events on record for the first four months of a year.

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El Niño Is Coming in Strong, NOAA Says

/in , , /by /Gizmodoby Angely Mercado

El Niño almost here, the global shift is likely to stick around until this winter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week. After an unusual three-year La Niña, all signs are pointing to changes in weather patterns for 2023.

 

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El Niño is Coming: What it Means for California Weather

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

El Niño conditions — the warming of ocean waters off South America that can alter weather across the globe, including California’s summer temperatures and the amount of rain it might receive next winter — are emerging in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in 4 years.

While El Niños do not automatically guarantee wet weather for California, historically, the stronger they are, the more likely it is that the state will have a rainy winter season. And after the dramatic series of storms this past winter that ended the drought and filled nearly empty reservoirs, another one back-to-back could increase flood risks.

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Wildfires May Have Stoked Rare ‘Triple-Dip’ La Niña

/in , , /by /Scienceby Maya Wei-Haas

In 2019, Australian skies glowed crimson in one of the country’s worst recorded fire seasons. The infernos blackened some 190,000 square kilometers of land, killing dozens of people along with an estimated 1 billion animals and destroying thousands of structures. The bushfires also unleashed plumes of smoke so voluminous they could be seen from space.

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Experts Signal Cautious Optimism Amid Mixed Drought Recovery in West

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Service by Natalie Hanson

While California’s water outlook saw marked improvement in the short term, climatologists say years of worsening conditions across the West will take far more than this winter’s storms to recuperate.

Veva Deheza, executive director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Integrated Drought Information System, said in a briefing Tuesday that about 25% of the West remains in drought — compared to 74% at the start of the water year this past October.

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