A Scripps Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes report shows that more atmospheric rivers have made landfall over the U.S. West Coast in the first four months of Water Year 2021 compared to the previous period in 2020.
Addressing the San Diego region’s limited local water supplies with innovative ideas is something the San Diego County Water Authority has become known for. Using expertise gained from decades of successful planning and projects, the Water Authority is developing strategies to reduce the future cost of water that sustains the economy and quality of life across the county.
Those efforts are ramping up in early 2021, following a Water Authority Board decision to continue assessing the potential for a new aqueduct to transport San Diego’s low-cost, high-priority water supplies from the Colorado River to San Diego County.
A major construction project to improve drinking water supply reliability in North County will start in February after the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors January 28 approved an $11.4 million contract for the work to Pacific Hydrotech Corporation of Perris, California.
The Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir project includes demolition of an abandoned steel tank, building a 2.1 million-gallon storage reservoir connected to the Valley Center Pipeline, and construction of an isolation vault and an underground flow control facility. The project is expected to be completed by winter 2022.
Tish Berge is joining the San Diego County Water Authority as assistant general manager, bringing experience from every aspect of water utility management to serve the region, it was announced Thursday. Berge is general manager of the Sweetwater Authority, one of the water authority’s 24 member agencies. Berge starts her new role Feb. 22 alongside Deputy General Manager Dan Denham and General Manager Sandra L. Kerl.
Tish Berge is joining the San Diego County Water Authority as assistant general manager, bringing experience from every aspect of water utility management to serve the region, it was announced today.
Berge is general manager of the Sweetwater Authority, one of the water authority’s 24 member agencies. Berge starts her new role Feb. 22 alongside Deputy General Manager Dan Denham and General Manager Sandra L. Kerl.
The San Diego Water Authority thinks the region is going to need way more water over the next few decades, but the smaller agencies that buy water from them aren’t so sure.
Addressing the San Diego region’s limited local water supplies with innovative ideas is something the San Diego County Water Authority has become known for. Using expertise gained from decades of successful planning and projects, the Water Authority is developing strategies to reduce the future cost of water that sustains the economy and quality of life across the county.
Agriculture is a rich part of San Diego County’s heritage and a foundational piece of the region’s economy, but it’s not easy to make a go of farming here given the hilly terrain, uneven soils and limited natural water supplies.
That’s where the San Diego County Water Authority comes in. The region’s wholesale water agency has funded more than 2,300 free irrigation system evaluations for farmers on more than 35,000 acres of avocados, citrus, field flowers, and other fruits and ornamentals since 1991.
A Scripps Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes report shows that more atmospheric rivers have made landfall over the U.S. West Coast in the first four months of Water Year 2021 compared to the previous period in 2020.
The four months of Water Year 2021 experienced a total of 35 landfalling ARs over the U.S. West Coast, six more than the first four months of Water Year 2020, according to the CW3E quarter year summary released February 11.
• The first four months of Water Year 2021 experienced a total of 35 landfalling ARs over the U.S. West Coast, 6 more than the first four months of Water Year 2020.
• Water Year 2021 also experienced more than twice as many strong or greater ARs (14) compared to Water Year 2020 (6).
• While Water Year 2021 saw more ARs in its first 4 months compared to Water Year 2020, a large majority of those ARs were
strongest over the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington).
• The average landfall latitude thus far in Water Year 2021 was 45.9°N compared to 43.9°N during the first half of Water Year 2020.
• The lack of landfalling ARs over Southern California and Baja California has resulted in much drier conditions over the southwestern U.S. compared to WY 2020.
The four months of Water Year 2021 experienced a total of 35 landfalling ARs over the U.S. West Coast, six more than the first four months of Water Year 2020. Graphic: Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes
A partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego seeks to optimize water management to better predict atmospheric rivers before, during, and after those seasonal storms.
In August 2020, Scripps Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) launched the Water Affiliates Group, which brings together cutting-edge science and hands-on water industry experience to enhance reservoir operations in light of the changing climate. The Water Authority has a long-running alliance with Scripps and is among six founding water agencies statewide.
CW3E and its partners will share and support best practices in forecast-informed reservoir operations, increase research around atmospheric rivers and droughts, and develop strategies for mitigating flood risk and increasing water supply reliability.
The above image, from the EOS article, is a depiction of an atmospheric river, interacting with West Coast mountains and a midlatitude cyclone over the northeast Pacific on 5 February 2015. This image provides an example of approximate locations of associated tropical moisture exports and a warm conveyor belt (WCB). Graphic: Adapted from NOAA/ESRL Physical Sciences Division via CW3E
Veteran water industry executive Tish Berge is joining the San Diego County Water Authority as assistant general manager, bringing experience from every aspect of water utility management to serve the region. Berge is currently general manager of the Sweetwater Authority, one of the Water Authority’s 24 member agencies. Berge starts her new role February 22 alongside Deputy General Manager Dan Denham and General Manager Sandra L. Kerl.
