Climate advocates are giving the San Diego region mixed reviews when it comes to developing climate action plans.
Those plans are considered vital roadmaps to slowing the warming of the planet’s climate and steering state and federal climate funding to the region.
More than half of the region’s municipalities have climate action plans (CAPs), and the latest report card singles out three examples of good ones.
Statewide drought conditions are highlighting the value of regionally and locally controlled water supplies in San Diego County, where the Water Authority announced June 21 that the region is protected from drought impacts this summer, and through 2045, despite continued hot and dry conditions. No shortages or regional water-use mandates are in the forecast – the result of three decades of strategic investments that create an aquatic safety net for San Diego County’s $253 billion economy and our quality of life.
The region’s diversified water supply portfolio includes highly reliable and locally controlled supplies, including desalinated seawater from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. It also includes high-priority, low-cost, conserved water from the Quantification Settlement Agreement, the nation’s largest conservation-and-transfer agreement. The combination offers significant protection against droughts and other emergencies even during multiple dry years.
I offer my sincere thanks to all San Diegans for everything you have done to make sure that we have enough water to meet the region’s needs now and for decades into the future. You have invested through your water bills and your water-smart practices, and those efforts are paying off in tangible ways.
At the same time, it’s important that we all continue embracing water-use efficiency strategies that have become part of our regional ethic. Simple but important steps include turning off the faucet while brushing teeth, fixing irrigation system leaks, and using hoses with automatic shut-off nozzles.
Thanks again for all you do, and remember to stay water-smart this summer!
The San Diego region’s water supplies remain safe to drink.
The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies have increased regional coordination and communication to ensure the coronavirus pandemic does not impact safe and secure water service for San Diego County.
Public water supplies in the San Diego region remain safe to drink due to numerous robust treatment processes used by local and regional water providers.
Despite widespread fears about coronavirus, there’s no evidence that the virus is transmitted through treated water. The U.S. EPA recommends that Americans continue to use and drink tap water as usual.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
