Facing rising costs and rates, the leaders of San Diego’s water lifelines are looking to sell some of its most expensive supply: de-salted ocean water from a massive plant in Carlsbad. But, at the same time, they’re also trying to make more of it.
The Biden administration announced its support on Tuesday for a consensus-based, short-term proposal that will promote significant water conservation efforts across the Colorado River basin.
In a historic effort to protect the Colorado River from extended drought, the San Diego County Water Authority and five other major California water districts have signed the first of a series of agreements to save 1.6 million acre-feet of water.
The Biden Administration will pay the Imperial Irrigation District an estimated $77.6 million for conserving 100,000 acre-feet of water in the Colorado River this year, setting the stage for more than half a billion dollars in federal funds to be paid to the agency, the river’s largest user, to conserve far more through 2026.
A proposed deal for California, Arizona and Nevada to take less water from the over-tapped Colorado River depends heavily on $1.2 billion in federal funds, which will pay farmers and others who agree to give up some of their supply over the next three years.
A deal has been reached to conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water in the Colorado River through 2026, the Department of the Interior announced on Monday. More than half of that would be saved by the end of 2024.
As Coachella Valley officials eye the billions on the table to address dire infrastructure needs like local mobile home parks without clean drinking water, White House senior advisor and infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu visited Thermal on Tuesday to tout funding opportunities available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Landrieu joined U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Democrat who represents the 25th Congressional District, for a tour of Oasis Mobile Home Park where the infrastructure needs are particularly dire.
Fixed pipes. Better pumps, turbines and motors. New bypass channels. Repaired fish ladders. Refurbished valves.
To improve California’s water infrastructure, more than $307 million of needed upgrades like those are included in staggeringly long to-do list of new public works projects throughout the West that will receive federal funding, Biden Administration officials announced on Wednesday.
As early as midnight, scores of Mexicali residents with U.S. citizenship or legal status line up at the port of entry. They cross into Calexico, walking past darkened storefronts, and gather near a 24-hour donut shop. Before dawn, they board buses for fields across the Imperial Valley.
Every year, some 15,000 people legally cross the border to work on farms in the region. In the winter, they join local residents in harvesting as much as 90% of the nation’s vegetables.
Senator Mark Kelly recently shared two photos of Lake Mead, Arizona, and the stark contrast between the two fueled concerns about the reservoir’s ability to recover from severe drought.
Torrential rain on the West Coast has filled some California reservoirs to the point of overflow, and nearby states such as Utah also saw their reservoirs benefit from the excess rain. However, Lake Mead water levels remain relatively unchanged and still at nearly their lowest in the reservoir’s history.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
