In addition to renewable energy projects featuring solar, wind and energy storage, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved looking at the potential of wave energy, offshore wind and geothermal to someday provide electricity in unincorporated areas of the county.
Standing atop a pockmarked red mesa, Rod Colwell looks out at an expanse of water that resembles a thin blue strip on the horizon. The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, has come and gone at least five times in the last 1,300 years, most recently in 1905, when floodwaters from the Colorado River refilled its basin.
A mid-century resort destination, the lake has since become an environmental disaster zone.
In 1969, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished construction of the Red Rock Dam on the Des Moines River in Marion County, Iowa. One of thousands of U.S. dams built that decade, its purpose was to moderate seasonal flooding, allowing the Corps to release the million-and-a-half acre feet of snowmelt it impounded each spring at will. And for more than 50 years, aside from providing locals with a reservoir in which to fish and go boating, that’s all it did.
Outcry from local environmental groups prompted San Diego officials Tuesday to retreat from plans to merge three longtime advisory boards that are focused on trees, marshland and green energy.
Hundreds of studies on nature-based solutions to extreme events show that “green infrastructure” is often cheaper and more effective than engineered projects like dams, levees and sea walls, according to a new analysis.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
