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City of San Diego in Dispute with SDG&E over Undergrounded Power Lines

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

The city government of San Diego is fighting with San Diego Gas & Electric over an ongoing project that replaces overhead power lines with underground lines in various parts of the city.

At issue is at least $22.1 million in invoices racked up from the end of 2018 through February of this year. City Attorney Mara Elliott says the price tag is too high and SDG&E has not properly documented the costs. The utility counters that it has substantiated its charges to city officials and the bill fairly represents work rendered.

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Pure Water San Diego Projects Underway After Receiving Milestone Permit

/in , , /by /Water News Network

Pre-construction activities at the North City Water Reclamation Plant and the future Pure Water Facility are underway as part of Phase 1 of the Pure Water San Diego program. More than 80,000 cubic yards of soil have been moved to date during initial site work, the equivalent of approximately 25 Olympic sized swimming pools.

Last month, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted an order granting a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES permit, to the City of San Diego to add purified water to the Miramar Reservoir for Phase 1 of the Pure Water San Diego program. The approval is a major milestone for the program.

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Pre-construction activities are currently underway as part of Phase 1 of the Pure Water San Diego Program. Photo: City of San Diego

Pure Water San Diego Projects Underway After Receiving Milestone Permit

/in , /by

Pre-construction activities at the North City Water Reclamation Plant and the future Pure Water Facility are underway as part of Phase 1 of the Pure Water San Diego program. More than 80,000 cubic yards of soil have been moved to date during initial site work, the equivalent of approximately 25 Olympic sized swimming pools.

Last month, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted an order granting a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES permit, to the City of San Diego to add purified water to the Miramar Reservoir for Phase 1 of  Pure Water San Diego. The approval is a major milestone for the program.

NPDES permits contain discharge limits, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other provisions to ensure water quality and public health. The NPDES permit issued to the City is the first for a reservoir augmentation project in the state of California.

By implementing Phase 1, the City will be able to produce and store 30 million gallons per day of local water supplies and decrease its reliance on imported water.

Pure Water San Diego Phase 1 includes several projects

More than 80,000 cubic yards of soil have been moved to date during initial site work on the Pure Water San Diego project, which is equivalent of approximately 25 Olympic sized swimming pools. Photo: City of San Diego

More than 80,000 cubic yards of soil have been moved to date during initial site work on the Pure Water San Diego project, which is the equivalent of approximately 25 Olympic sized swimming pools. Photo: City of San Diego

Phase 1 includes a series of pipelines and facilities to convey purified water to Miramar Reservoir. Adding the purified water to Miramar Reservoir will increase the reservoir’s beneficial use and optimize protection of water quality. The purified water will blend with the City’s imported sources and be treated again at the Miramar Water Treatment Plant and distributed to the public.

The purified water distribution area will include the portion of the City of San Diego that receives potable water from the Miramar Water Treatment Plant in addition to the City of Del Mar.

Phase 1 of Pure Water San Diego includes several projects: the Morena Pump Station and Pipelines, the North City Water Reclamation Plant Expansion, the North City Pure Water Facility, and the North City Pure Water Pump Station and Pipeline.

City Attorney Blasts SDSU Sale Plan; Says Ambitious Wastewater Plans in Danger

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Sara Libby and Jesse Marx

Friday, the San Diego City Council is set to review and give final approval to the historic deal to transfer the city’s Mission Valley land to San Diego State University. But late Friday, City Attorney Mara Elliott sent around another list of concerns this time focused on the city’s long-term plans to recycle wastewater. Elliott’s deputies wrote that city would face  “dire consequences in the future” if the deal goes forward as SDSU has sketched out in its final purchase and sales agreement.

If you have some quarantine time to kill, you can read the full memo, which includes background and explanation of the dilemma. The land is largely owned by the city in its Water Utility Fund and a large groundwater aquifer that the city could use to store water in the future.

The city plans to recycle water to such an extent that someday it will make up about a third of the city’s water source. It’s called the Pure Water project.

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San Diego Water Authority Dismisses Some Claims in Suit Against Metropolitan Water

/in , , /by /City News Service Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Friday applauded the dismissal of several legal claims stemming from lawsuits filed by the San Diego County Water Authority over water rates and charges, which could end a decade-long legal battle between the agencies.

The Water Authority voted Thursday to dismiss some claims in its lawsuits, which the Water Authority said would allow the parties to avoid a trial scheduled for June. The water authority filed several lawsuits regarding water rates and charges set by MWD and paid by water authority customers spanning from 2010 to 2018.

The resolution was at least partially brought on by the MWD Board of Directors’ approval of more than $350 million in “Water Stewardship Rate” benefits for the San Diego region late last year.

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Contractors Get Reprieve in Effort to Block San Diego’s Pure Water Recycling System

/in , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

SAN DIEGO — Legal wrangling over San Diego’s proposed Pure Water sewage recycling system continued Friday, when a judge gave a temporary reprieve to a group of local contractors fighting for the ability of non-union workers to help build the system.

Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss gave the contractors two weeks to strengthen their case, that construction of the system should be blocked because of a dispute over the use of non-union workers to build some of it.

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San Diego’s Landmark Water Recycling Project May Face Longer Delays Than Expected

/in , , /by /San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick

SAN DIEGO —  San Diego’s long-awaited Pure Water project, a sewage recycling system that would boost the city’s water independence, is facing legal challenges that could last longer and cost more than city officials previously anticipated.

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San Diego Suing SDG&E for $35 Million Over Unpaid Undergrounding Expenses

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Ken Stone

The city is suing San Diego Gas & Electric for what officials call the utility’s refusal to honor promises made when it obtained exclusive rights to provide gas and electricity to San Diegans in 1971.

As the city moves forward with its Pure Water San Diego Program, which will reduce ocean pollution and increase San Diego’s water supply, SDG&E has failed to relocate at its own expense its underground infrastructure that obstructs the city project, which it is required to do under the terms of its contract with the city, said City Attorney Mara Elliott, who made the announcement Wednesday.
In June 2018, the city says, SDG&E refused to undertake design and relocation work for Phase 1 of the program unless the city fronted the money.

“It’s unfortunate that a lawsuit is needed to compel our longtime partner to honor the terms of its contract with the city,” Elliott said. “Pure Water is critical to protecting the ocean from pollution and increasing our water independence. This program cannot be compromised by further delays.”

SDG&E communications manager Wes Jones said: “While we generally do not comment on pending litigation, broadly speaking, SDG&E does not believe the relocation costs of this City of San Diego water project should be spread to customers in the other cities within our service area. We look forward to resolving this matter as quickly as possible.”

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Why San Diego Farmers Worry About Water

/in , /by /San Diego Readerby Sheila Pell Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Valley Center farmers aren’t alone when it comes to the high cost of water. But it could get lonelier and costlier if two neighboring water districts unyoke from the Water Authority to get a fresh start in Riverside.

In December, the boards of the Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District voted to begin detachment from the San Diego County Water Authority in order to join Riverside’s Eastern Municipal Water District.

Will those left behind pay more as others tap new supplies? Questions are flying in Valley Center, where farms are the main customers, even as avocado turf keeps shrinking

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Opinion: Drink More Recycled Wastewater

/in , , /by /Natureby Cecilia Tortajada and Pierre van Rensburg Mentioned: City of San Diego

Drinkable water is becoming increasingly scarce. Population growth, pollution and climate change mean that more cities are being forced to search for unconventional water sources. In a growing number of places, drinking highly treated municipal wastewater, called ‘reused water’, has become the best option — and, in some cases, the only one (see ‘What is reused water?’).

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