Oceanside is the first municipality in San Diego County to bring a pure water facility on line.
The city’s utility director Cari Dale officially broke ground the $71 million facility on Wednesday saying the plant will bolster the city’s drinking water supply.
City worker Sara Davis says the plant takes in recycled water, which is clean enough for lawns but not clean enough to drink.
Farmers, ranchers and vineyard owners are invited to a free workshop that offers guidance on applying for up to $100,000 in state grant funding designed to promote healthy soils practices.
The Free Healthy Soils Program Financial Assistance Workshop is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 9, at Ramona Library, 1275 Main St.
Sydney Frazier-Flores, environmental educator for the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation in Encinitas will lead the workshop, with assistance from Solana Center’s Zero Waste Project Lead Hanna Schuler, who will provide Spanish translations.
We all know what rolls downhill and smells bad. Nowhere is it more true than in the Tijuana River Valley in southern San Diego County, where for years toxic cross-border sewage spills have created the biggest ongoing water pollution and environmental justice crisis in the United States. While some progress has been made in recent negotiations with Mexico to fund solutions, it could take years to realize significant improvements.
One by one, small mammals and amphibians living within a construction zone in Mission Trails Regional Park are being relocated to safe areas. Protecting sensitive species is one part of the Mission Trails Project.
A team of biologists from the San Diego County Water Authority, AECOM, and the San Diego Natural History Museum began surveying for and relocating the wildlife in preparation for a new underground reservoir. The reservoir will be constructed in the western portion of the park. The habitat surveys and wildlife relocation program span 15 acres of the park and are designed to protect sensitive species in the project area from construction activities.
Several sensitive species of small mammals and amphibians will be encountered and moved.
Biologists will focus on four sensitive species that are covered under the Water Authority’s Natural Communities Conservation Plan and Habitat Conservation Plan: northwestern San Diego pocket mouse, Dulzura pocket mouse, San Diego desert wood rat, and western spadefoot toad. Biologists will continue to monitor for these and other sensitive species during construction.
Biologists took special care to find burrows or covered areas for the small animals, such as this kangaroo rat, so that they could begin to build their new homes in the safe areas of the park. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
For about two weeks, more than 500 traps will be placed in a grid pattern in the evenings and the sensitive species will be moved one at a time to safe areas within the park early each morning. Special care is being taken to help the animals find new burrows or covered areas as quickly as possible. Each animal is carefully marked, and data is logged to track the relocated animals. This tracking process helps ensure that the wildlife is not returning to the construction zone.
“We are conducting sensitive species surveys and habitat management before the start of construction to allow the animals to find new habitat and build homes safely away from the upcoming work,” said Summer Adleberg, a principal water resources specialist at the Water Authority. “Environmental stewardship is paramount to the Water Authority, and we always aim to minimize impacts to the surrounding land and communities while we improve regional water infrastructure.”
The reservoir, also called a “flow regulatory structure,” will store up to 5 million gallons of water underground and help regulate untreated water flows in the regional water delivery system. When completed, the reservoir will be covered with soil and vegetation. Above-ground access hatches and vents will be constructed to allow air to move in and out of the reservoir.
Once the project is completed, the area will be restored to its original condition and monitored over the next several years.
The structure is part of a suite of infrastructure improvements, called the Mission Trails Project. The underground reservoir, pipeline tunnel, and removal of existing blue vent stacks are part of the project.
A new concrete crossing over the San Diego River will also be constructed to allow Water Authority vehicles to access pipelines and other infrastructure more efficiently. The pipeline tunnel, river crossing, and removal of most above-ground vent stacks have already been completed.
Construction activities on the covered reservoir and removal of the last two vent stacks are scheduled to begin in March and last approximately two years.
For trail closures and more information about the project, go to sdcwa.org/mission-trails-FRS.
The Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District now have a Memorandum of Understanding to work with each other on new water resource development and emergency supply.
The Dec. 3 Rainbow board meeting included a 4-0 vote with Michael Mack absent to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with FPUD while FPUD’s Dec. 9 board meeting approved the MOU on a 4-0 vote with Don McDougal absent. The MOU provisions include both collaborating on long-term water supply development and working together to improve emergency water supply capabilities.
“It’s just a good opportunity for us to work together and try to save money for our ratepayers,” FPUD general manager Jack Bebee said.
Here’s how much rain fell on Monday and early Tuesday at more than 50 locations across San Diego County. A new round of rain will move ashore on Christmas night and will last into Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
San Onofre: 1.85″
Brown Field: 1.74″
Otay Mountain: 1.70″
Lake Cuyamaca: 1.66″
Kearny Mesa: 1.38″
Point Loma: 1.36″
A wet Christmas Eve is in store for parts of San Diego County.
Scattered showers will continue Tuesday everywhere except the deserts and the showers are expected to linger through Christmas night, according to the National Weather Service.
On Nov. 5, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, city of El Cajon and County of San Diego formed a Joint Powers Authority to serve as the governing body for the East County Advanced Water Purification project.
A Helix Water District representative will serve as an ex officio, nonvoting member of the JPA board. “The JPA board will be focused on the wastewater side of the project. Our role in the project if it moves forward, is on the drinking water side,” said Helix Water District General Manager Carlos Lugo.
The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors Nov. 21 approved a new and permanent Special Agricultural Water Rate program structure that offers lower water rates to farmers in exchange for lower water supply reliability.
Unlike the current temporary program, the structure of the new water rate program will let new participants join as a way to strengthen the region’s multi-billion-dollar agriculture industry.
New ag water program rates will be determined in the spring of 2020 as part of the Water Authority’s annual rate-setting process. The program will take effect January 1, 2021, replacing the current program that sunsets at the end of 2020. Additional program details, such as the signup process and qualifying criteria, also will be developed early next year.
Farmers and growers who participate in the new program will continue to receive a lower level of water service during water shortages or emergencies, allowing the Water Authority to reallocate those supplies to commercial and industrial customers, who pay for full reliability benefits. In exchange, participating farmers are exempt from fixed water storage and supply reliability charges. Under the current temporary program in 2020, participants will pay $1,231 per acre-foot for treated water, while municipal and industrial users will pay $1,686 per acre-foot.
“Creating a permanent program will benefit all regional water users,” said Water Authority Board Chair Jim Madaffer. “It helps farmers sustain their operations – and thousands of jobs – while providing a benefit to residential and commercial water customers in the event of future water supply reductions.”
“Every farmer in the county supports the special rate,” said Hannah Gbeh, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau. “The agriculture community stands ready to provide significant water cutbacks in times of need, such as drought or emergency repairs.”
San Diego County is unusual among major metropolitan areas in the United States because it includes one of the nation’s most valuable and productive farm sectors adjacent to one of the nation’s largest cities.The region sustains 3.3 million people and a $231 billion economy thanks to decades of regional investments in water supply reliability projects, including the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant and the biggest conservation-and-transfer agreement in U.S. history.
The Water Authority has provided lower-cost water to growers in exchange for lower reliability since October 2008, when the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California phased out a similar program. Since that time, the temporary Water Authority program has continued with a series of extensions set to expire at the end of 2020.
The new program was developed by the Water Authority’s Fiscal Sustainability Task Force, which is assessing a variety of issues to ensure the agency’s long-term financial health. Regional farming leaders provided input to the task force on the parameters of the new program.
Gusty winds in the San Diego County mountains this morning will precede significant rain showers throughout Southern California Wednesday, with a cold storm expected to make road conditions challenging for holiday traveler through the end of the week.
Wind gusts reaching 35-45 mph are expected in the mountains before the first front of the storm comes through Wednesday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Miguel Miller said.
