Tag Archive for: San Diego County Water Authority

Opinion: California Water News Keeps Getting Worse as Climate Emergency Sharply Limits Supplies

The grim news about the climate emergency just keeps rolling in. San Diego International Airport saw its driest November since 1980, with only a trace of rain recorded the entire month. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the state Department of Water Resources said that California agencies that provide water to 27 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland will get 0 percent of requested water from the reservoirs, canals and dams that comprise the State Water Project. Seven agencies will get some water, but only for urgent health and safety needs, including indoor sanitation and fire suppression.

The San Diego County Water Authority — which made the courageous and game-changing decision in 1991 to diversify its supplies and no longer rely so heavily on the giant, mercurial Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — won’t be affected by the state decision. In a normal year, officials said Thursday, 10 percent of the authority’s water comes from the State Water Project. But this year, it’s received none and still has plenty of water available.

 

Aqueduct Shutdown December 4 – 15

On December 4, 2021, the San Diego County Water Authority will be taking the 74-year old 1st San Diego Aqueduct out of service until December 15, 2021. With the aqueduct being off the district loses water supply to approximately 85% of the District’s its area (see map). 

First Aqueduct shutdown-Map

The Water Authority is taking the 48” diameter pipeline out of service to inspect and make final design decisions on how to make the needed repairs to the three tunnels discovered in the recently completed northern 1st Aqueduct relining project.

State Water Project Zeroes Out Allocation for 2022 Other Than for Health, Safety Needs

Most California water districts will receive virtually no water next year from the State Water Project other than for health and safety needs amid “unprecedented drought conditions,” the state’s the Department of Water Resources announced Wednesday.

The announcement to zero out the State Water Project’s allocation for 2022 comes as officials anticipate a third straight dry year in California that has reservoirs at or nearing record lows.

In a statement Wednesday, DWR Director Karla Nemeth said preparations are needed now with a dry winter expected and with drought conditions likely to continue into next year.

“We will be working with our federal partners and SWP contractors to take a conservative planning approach to balance limited water supplies with the needs of residents, businesses, and the environment,” Nemeth said.

But the San Diego region is better off than other parts of the state, including elsewhere in Southern California, officials say. Since the 1990 drought, San Diego water experts have relied on multiple water sources and not just the state’s.

Vista Irrigation District Logo

Marty Miller to Serve as San Diego County Water Authority Delegate to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Vista, Calif. — Vista Irrigation District division 1 director, Marty Miller, has been appointed as a delegate to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The San Diego County Water Authority board approved the appointment of Miller to replace Mike Hogan as a director to the Metropolitan board. Miller joins Jerry Butkiewicz, S. Gail Goldberg and Tim Smith as Water Authority delegates to Metropolitan.

“I am honored to join the Metropolitan board and to work together with the other delegates to serve the San Diego region,” said Miller. “I look forward to the hard work of ensuring our customers, community and San Diego region maintain reliable and economical local and imported water supplies now and well into the future.”

Vista Irrigation District-Marty Miller-MWD delegate

Marty Miller has represented Vista Irrigation District division 1, which stretches from Gopher Canyon Road to Vale Terrace Drive in Vista, since 2008. Miller has led the Vista Irrigation District board as president two times and has served as chair of the district’s fiscal policy, public affairs, water sustainability and Warner Ranch committees. Miller has actively represented the district’s best interests through his dedicated service as the district’s representative on the Water Authority board since November 2011. Photo: Vista Irrigation District

New San Diego County Water Authority Director Joins Metropolitan Board

Community leader and Vista Irrigation District board member Marty Miller has been seated as one of four delegates representing the San Diego County Water Authority on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Miller took his seat during a special board meeting last Tuesday (Nov. 23). He replaced outgoing director Michael Hogan, who served on Metropolitan’s 38-member board since 2013. Elected to the VID board in 2008, Miller represents Vista, a community in northeast San Diego County. He has twice served as VID’s board president, as well as chair of its fiscal policy, public affairs, water sustainability and Warner Ranch committees.

CWA Vote Entitlement Percentage Up for RMWD, Down for FPUD and Camp Pendleton

The weighted vote at 2022 San Diego County Water Authority board meetings will increase slightly for the Rainbow Municipal Water District while decreasing slightly for the Fallbrook Public Utility District and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

The Nov. 18 SDCWA board meeting approved the 2022 weighted vote allocations for the CWA member agencies. RMWD will have 3.926% of the weighted vote, FPUD will have a weighted vote of 2.238%, and the Camp Pendleton weighted vote will be 0.081%. For the 2021 board meetings, RMWD had a weighted vote of 3.923%, FPUD’s share was 2.256%, and the Camp Pendleton weighted vote was 0.084%.

San Diego County Water Authority Named a 2021 Top Workplace

November 22, 2021 – The San Diego County Water Authority has been named a Top Workplace for 2021 by The San Diego Union-Tribune, capping a two-year effort by the agency to reshape its internal culture based on shared values. The newspaper’s honor roll is based solely on employee feedback through third-party surveys by Energage LLC, an employee engagement technology firm.

“Safe and reliable water supplies are delivered across the San Diego region every single day by a talented workforce that has been dedicated to public service for more than 75 years,” said Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher. “It’s gratifying to see their efforts gain the recognition they deserve, but more importantly, among the residents and businesses throughout the San Diego region.”

Water News Network Website Honored

The Water News Network was honored with awards from several organizations recently, including the Public Relations Society of America.

On November 18, the WNN received a Bronze Bernays Award of Merit in the websites category from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) San Diego/Imperial County chapter. It is the second consecutive year the WNN website has received this award.

Here are the Best Mid-Size Companies to Work for in San Diego County

The Top Workplaces survey identified these companies as the best mid-size companies in 2021 included the San Diego County Water Authority.

Top Workplace 2021-San Diego County Water Authority

About the Top Workplaces survey

The employee engagement survey of 24 questions gathers responses regarding issues relating to workplace culture:· Alignment – where the company is headed, its values, cooperation, effective meetings· Coaching – managers care about concerns, are helpful, encourage employee development· Connection – employees feel appreciated, work is meaningful, working at full potential, feel informed· Engagement – productivity, retention, recruiting· Leadership – confidence in company leaders· Performance – execution, open-mindedness, innovation, clued-in leadership· The Basics – pay, benefits, work/life flexibility, training, expectationsEmployers that score high enough are recognized as Top Workplaces. Employers are ranked within size groups to accurately compare results. Energage also determines special award winners based on standout scores on specific survey topics.Wonder why a particular company was not on the list? Perhaps it chose not to participate, or it did not score well enough in the survey. Energage sometimes disqualifies employers based on questionable results detected through statistical tests it runs to ensure organizations are accurately administering the survey.

Santa Fe Irrigation District Approves Rate Increase

The Santa Fe Irrigation District Board of Directors approved a scheduled 3% rate adjustment at its November meeting, according to a news release. The increase will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

The scheduled rate adjustment was a part of the board’s three-year rate structure approved in January 2020. Last November, the board voted to freeze any rate increases for 2021 and use reserves to absorb the 4.8% San Diego County Water Authority increases, citing fiscal management and impacts of the pandemic on the region and customers.