While thousands of San Diegans don’t get their water bills on time, the city has another problem — massive late payments.
Team 10 has uncovered that unpaid bills later than four months have skyrocketed to $75 million in 2023, while four customers currently owe more than $1 million to the city.
The massive storm moving into Southern California is slowing down and gaining strength and will likely drop 2 to 4 inches of rain across San Diego County between late Monday afternoon to late Tuesday night, the National Weather Service said.
Ahead of another severe storm warning, Mayor Todd Gloria issued an evacuation warning Wednesday to low-lying areas of the city, devastated by flooding last week. The evacuation is currently voluntary, said the mayor, and designed to keep the public ready should an evacuation become mandatory.
For the second time in a month, torrential flooding returned to Southern California this week with El Niño-fueled rains rolling in off the Pacific Ocean. This time San Diego felt the punch. The city, known for weather “the closest thing to perfect in America,” experienced one of its wettest days on record.
In a matter of minutes Monday morning, communities across southeastern San Diego were transformed into disaster zones: Families fled their homes in chest-deep floodwaters; vehicles were swept downstream as roads became rivers; residents cried for help from their rooftops.
Monday’s monster storm made Jan. 22 the fourth wettest day in San Diego since at least 1850. All told, an incredible 2.73 inches of rain washed over San Diego. From Southcrest to Ocean Beach to Carlsbad, flash floods swept the region, leaving millions in damages in their wake.
Hundreds of people had to be rescued Monday as historic rain hit San Diego, causing significant flooding that closed major roadways, shut down bus lines, cut power and sent scores of residents scrambling for higher ground.
It’s time to cut back on water usage. That’s the message from city, county and state leaders Thursday afternoon as officials say this is the worst drought in 1,200 years. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria joined Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency and Gary Croucher, Chair of the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors for the announcement.
The San Diego County Water Authority and city of San Diego have decided to move forward with environmental review of a pumped-storage electricity generating plant at the San Vicente Reservoir in East County.
The project entails creating a new, smaller reservoir above the giant city-owned lake, a tunnel between the two, and underground pump turbines. Water would be pumped to the upper reservoir when there is excess power on the grid, then drawn down to generate electricity when needed.
Partners the City of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority will begin negotiations on a project development agreement with the BHE Kiewit Team to develop Phase 1 of the potential 500 MW San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project.
The proposed project, which could generate enough energy for about 135,000 households, is subject to a full environmental review and regulatory approvals. If the authority and the city decide to proceed after completing environmental review, the San Vicente Energy Storage Facility would provide up to 500 MW of long-duration stored energy to help meet peak electrical demands throughout southern California and help meet California’s renewable energy goals.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
