In golf, I’m what you call a “hacker,” in that I’m a golfer with a handicap north of 30. Despite this, I like to get out with friends to chase the ball around and share the grief, and we enjoy playing at Mission Bay Golf Course four to five times a year. It’s a nice course, well-kept, and suitable for our level of play. In fact, I got my first and only hole-in-one on the 14th hole at Mission Bay.
A long-sought compromise has been approved that will open the stagnant, reed-filled Buena Vista Lagoon to the sea and restore its native coastal marine habitat, but years of work remain before the transformation begins. Disagreements over whether the lagoon at the border of Carlsbad and Oceanside should remain freshwater or be restored to saltwater have stalled the project for decades.
The California Department of Water Resources has awarded a $275,800 grant to the City of Oceanside to design a comprehensive riparian habitat and streambank restoration project for a segment of Buena Vista Creek in southeast Oceanside. The planning work will identify a feasible restoration design, conduct community outreach and complete preliminary environmental documentation for future restoration work.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today announced the selection of 40 multi-benefit ecosystem restoration and protection projects to receive funding under its Proposition 1 and Proposition 68 grant programs.
The same black-and-white perspective that overshadows nearly all discussion on the water of the San Francisco Bay-Delta unfortunately briefly became San Francisco policy last week when the Board of Supervisors reflexively labeled the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission as being against restoring the health of the bay-delta’s ecosystem. In this narrative, one party incorrectly identifies restoring unimpaired flows as the only answer to declining fisheries. The other party disagrees, which instantly labels them as anti environmental. This in turn creates a false reality that stalls progress, widens divisions and reinforces a good guy/bad guy myth.
San Diego Gas & Electric is upgrading its infrastructure and expanding its use of technology to limit the risk of wildfires and reduce the time it takes to restore service afterward. More than 14,000 wooden power poles have been replaced by steel versions, special cameras have been placed on 16 mountaintops and 177 weather stations are monitoring winds and moisture, an SDG&E official told a City Council committee last week.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and some state representatives in the Bay Area are calling for voluntary settlement agreements, rather than a State Water Board proposal, to bolster the salmon population in tributaries of the San Joaquin River. In a letter Friday to water board chairwoman Felicia Marcus, Feinstein said a voluntary settlement will achieve more in restoring fish in the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers.
Environmental advocates led a hike along the San Diego River in Mission Valley on Sunday morning to build awareness about ongoing efforts to remove invasive species from its banks. The San Diego River Park Foundation hosted the hour-long jaunt, showing off a dramatically improved section of the river located in the 52-acre Mission Valley Preserve. About a dozen folks in wide-brimmed hats and toting water bottles listened as Marina Varano, outreach associate with the foundation, educated the crowd about efforts to restore the riparian habitat.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
