A new 360-degree virtual reality video tour takes viewers through the planned East County Advanced Water Purification facilities. Participants are immersed in a guided tour of water facilities, where they can control their view by moving their computer mouse or smartphones to any direction in the video they want to see.
Viewers with a virtual reality headset for smartphones can take engagement one step further by stepping into the video.
The massive electrical storm that hit San Diego County on Monday and early Tuesday brought significant rain to a county badly in need of precipitation. Here’s a sample of rainfall across the region, as compiled by the National Weather Service. A new storm might arrive on Thursday.
The Vista Irrigation District has received two major statewide honors, the District of Distinction Platinum Recognition award and the Transparency Certificate of Excellence.
The District of Distinction recognition is awarded by the Special District Leadership Foundation to special districts that show their commitment to good governance, transparency, prudent fiscal policies and sound operating practices. The district originally obtained its accreditation in 2009 and just received its most recent reaccreditation.
Platinum recognition is the highest level of recognition for a district and requires completion of all Special District Leadership Foundation programs demonstrating a comprehensive approach to excellence in district administration and government; the district is one of only ten special districts statewide to obtain District of Distinction Platinum recognition.
In addition to the District of Distinction award, the district received the Transparency Certificate of Excellence in recognition of its efforts to promote transparency in operations and governance to the public; 145 special districts in the state have received this certificate.
There are over 2,000 independent special districts in the state of California that provide essential services such as water, sewer, fire protection, and parks and recreation.
Both the District of Distinction and Transparency Certificate of Excellence awards require the district to meet numerous criteria, including training elected officials and staff, adopting financial, public information and conflict of interest policies, properly conducting and communicating open and public meetings, performing outreach efforts to constituents, and meeting twenty different website requirements.
The awards were presented at the recent California Special District Association annual conference.
The Special District Leadership Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization formed to promote good governance and best practices among California special districts through certification, accreditation and other recognition programs.
Vista Irrigation District is a public agency governed by an elected five-member board. The district provides water service to roughly 135,000 people in the city of Vista, and portions of San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside, and unincorporated areas of San Diego County.
(Editor’s note: The Vista Irrigation District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
As California coastal cities look for methods to avert the harsh realities of the state’s second drought in a decade, desalination has returned as a hot topic. In San Diego County, the drought makes the argument that the controversial choice to build a coastside desalination plant was correct. The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant opened in Carlsbad in 2015. It supplies water to the San Diego County Water Authority, a wholesale agency that supplies about three-quarters of the water used within its 3.3 million population service area for 24 member agencies.
Residents and businesses in unincorporated areas of San Diego County are eligible for increased water-use efficiency rebates under a partnership announced Aug. 17 between the county’s Watershed Protection Program and the San Diego County Water Authority.
The program could save money for residential, commercial and agricultural customers who make landscape upgrades designed to improve the region’s climate resilience and reduce the flow of pollutants into waterways.
“Drought conditions across the west are a reminder of the importance of water-efficiency upgrades, and these rebates offer a great opportunity to get involved,” said Kelley Gage, director of water resources for the water authority. “With a WaterSmart approach, we can reduce water-use and maintain climate-friendly landscapes that help sustain our quality of life in San Diego County.”
Residents and businesses in unincorporated areas of San Diego County are eligible for increased water-use efficiency rebates under a partnership announced Tuesday between the county’s Watershed Protection Program and the San Diego County Water Authority.
The program could save money for residential, commercial and agricultural customers who make landscape upgrades designed to improve the region’s climate resilience and reduce the flow of pollutants into waterways.
Residents and businesses in unincorporated areas of San Diego County are eligible for increased water-use efficiency rebates under a new partnership between the County’s Watershed Protection Program and the San Diego County Water Authority.
The County’s new Waterscape Rebate Program will save money for residential, commercial, and agricultural customers who make landscape upgrades that improve the region’s climate resilience and reduce the flow of pollutants into waterways.
August 17, 2021 – Residents and businesses in unincorporated areas of San Diego County are eligible for increased water-use efficiency rebates under a new partnership between the County’s Watershed Protection Program and the San Diego County Water Authority.
The County’s new Waterscape Rebate Program will save money for residential, commercial, and agricultural customers who make landscape upgrades that improve the region’s climate resilience and reduce the flow of pollutants into waterways. Sustainable landscapes produce multiple benefits for San Diego communities, such as reducing water use, enhancing habitat, increasing stormwater retention, and decreasing run-off.
California Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill on Friday to expand federal authority over the ecologically threatened Salton Sea east of San Diego County.
The Salton Sea Projects Improvements Act would significantly expand the ability of the Bureau of Reclamation to partner with state, local, and tribal governments to address the public health and environmental crisis at the Salton Sea.
The bill also increases the amount the Bureau of Reclamation is authorized to spend towards these efforts from $10 million to $250 million.
Agriculture values topped $1.8 billion for the first time since 2014 and just the third time in 30 years in the County of San Diego’s annual Crop Report that covers the 2020 growing season, overcoming decreases in many crop values and reported mixed effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The total value of all agriculture crops and commodities rose just 0.8% in the new Crop Report. But that was enough to push total values from $1,795,528,573 in 2019 to $1,810,326,411.
It was the fourth time in the past five Crop Reports that overall agriculture values increased, and the third time since 1990 that total values topped $1.8 billion in San Diego County. Values exceeded $1.8 billion in both 2013 and 2014.
