The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors appointed Assistant General Manager Sergio Quiroz to serve as Interim General Manager effective June 3.
According to a press release from Imperial Irrigation District, the Board’s decision was made following closed session discussions during the Tuesday, May 16 meeting, with directors present voting unanimously in support of the appointment.
In 2016, the City of San Francisco was the first American municipality to ban the sales of water that comes in plastic bottles. At the time it was called a bold move that was building on a global movement to reduce the huge amount of waste from the billion-dollar plastic bottle industry.
South Lake Tahoe was an early adopter of the single-use plastic bag ban, as well as bans of single-use plastic, styrene, and straws.
Over the past two years, Silicon Valley’s largest water provider, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, has had a long list of challenges and setbacks.
In 2020, the federal government ordered its largest dam, Anderson, near Morgan Hill, drained for earthquake repairs. The price tag has since doubled to $1.2 billion.
Divvying up Colorado River water has been the subject of at least two letters this week from Republican and Democratic members of Arizona’s congressional delegation.
One note was sent to the head of the U.S. Department of Interior and the other to the governor of California.
California’s water future is dire indeed — there’s not only the likelihood of too little, but also the possibility of way too much.
The potential for broad, devastating effects of climate change have become familiar over the years. In recent times, the prospect of actually running out of water has gone from the abstract to a realistic scenario in some regions of California and the Southwest.
San Diego County’s water supplies are in good shape in the face of severe statewide drought, but local and state leaders said San Diegans should still take steps to avoid water waste and limit outdoor irrigation.
“We’re here on a somber note, and that is as we move into summer… we are navigating across the American West, an unprecedented drought,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said.
The U.S. House Nov. 5 voted 228-206 to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that includes $8.3 billion dollars in water-related investments.
The package, HR 3684, includes investments in dams, waterways, flood prevention efforts, drought resilience, groundwater storage and conveyance, aquifer recharge projects and other water works.
The recent storms allowed California to suspend the drought curtailment orders that had been imposed during the summer. Cities and irrigation districts now are free to capture river runoff that had been unavailable because of the orders. Officials warned that they could fall back into place if the state gets another stretch of dry weather.
Amid worsening drought in the West that threatens the region’s water and food supplies, Vice President Kamala Harris went to Lake Mead on Monday to pitch the Biden administration’s infrastructure and climate change plans, saying they would create jobs and respond to climate change.
“It is critical that we as a nation understand that we have within our hands, within our possession, the ability to actually change the course of where we’re headed,” Harris said, standing in front of a lectern with Lake Mead — and its precipitously low water levels — as a backdrop. “Let’s get these bills passed.”
Sewer rates for San Diegans in single-family homes would increase nearly 17 percent next year and a total of 31 percent over the next four years under a rate hike proposal the City Council is scheduled to consider Tuesday.
The proposal also would reduce sewer rates for most businesses, condos and apartments based on two comprehensive studies showing those customers have been paying too much, while single-family homes haven’t been paying enough.
