Tag Archive for: San Diego

Environment Report: Tijuana and San Diego Share a Sewage Problem But Not a Solution

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

Vicente Calderon from Tijuana Press and I spend a lot of time picking our way around the sewage-laden Tijuana River, asking ourselves: How is it still this bad? Our latest story from the cross-border sewage crisis plaguing Tijuana and San Diego illuminated that the current approach to solving the problem is a lot like putting a Band-Aid on the stomach flu. The Band-Aid in this case is $300 million that Congress has charged the Environmental Protection Agency with deciding how to spend. But really, and here’s the flu part of the allegory, a lot of Tijuana’s infrastructure is just old and broken, or was never even built to support the neighborhoods that popped up on its hillsides.

Full Story

San Diego Public Utilities Department Proposes Sewer, Water Rate Hike in 2022

/in , , /by /Rancho Bernardo News Journal

San Diego officials have proposed a water and sewer rate hike to update city infrastructure as large changes are on the horizon, it was announced last week. The city is looking to increase wastewater rates by 5 percent starting January 2022, the first rate hike for that service in a decade. In addition, the city’s Public Utilities Department — which provides water and sewer services to customers, including Rancho Bernardans — is proposing to pass regional water cost increases to its customers in a 2 percent rate hike starting in 2022.

Full Story

Public Input Requested for San Diego Water Plan

/in , , /by /The Coast News Group

San Diego is seeking input from the public on a new water plan introduced by Mayor Todd Gloria. Under the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan, the city would develop more than half of the city’s water locally by 2045.

Full Story

Storm Leaves 2 Inches of Rain in Some Parts of County, While 18 Inches of Snow Measured in Julian

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby City News Service

A late-winter storm doused the San Diego area with rain and mountain snow for second day Thursday, but a dry spell lies ahead.

Though the showers generated by the unsettled atmospheric system out of the Gulf of Alaska were more scattered and short-lived than Wednesday’s storms, they added to some significant moisture amounts across the county, according to the National Weather Service.

Full Story

County’s Updated Conservation Plan Aims to Save More San Diego Farmland

/in , /by /Ramona Sentinelby Deborah Sullivan Brennan

More San Diego farmland will be eligible for an agricultural conservation program under new rules the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has approved. San Diego has lost much of its farmland over the past decade. Since 2009, about 60,000 acres — 20 percent of San Diego County’s agricultural land — has been converted to other uses. The county has tried to stem that decline through the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement, which is called the PACE program.

 

Full Story

San Diego Will Have to Hope for a ‘March Miracle’ to Make Up for Lack of Rain

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

It’s time to hope for a “March miracle.” We badly need rain and won’t get much — if any — over the next week.

Full Story

Residents’ Climate Anecdotes to Inform San Diego Resilience Plan

/in , , /by /Utility Diveby Maria Rachal

The City of San Diego Planning Department is seeking public feedback as it develops a climate resilience plan focused on preparing for sea level rise, flooding and drought, extreme heat and wildfires — risks backed up by a climate change vulnerability assessment completed early last year. The Climate Resilient SD plan would build on the city’s Climate Action Plan released in 2015.

Full Story

Reporter Notebook: Will EPA Fix for Tijuana River Keep Pace with Growth?

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith

Reports of Tijuana sewage leaking over the border into the San Diego region stretch back at least to the 1930s. The fundamental issue hasn’t changed all that much over time. Plumbing still isn’t keeping pace with population growth. Water officials in Baja California have frequently pointed out that sewage collection in Tijuana far exceeds that in many parts of Mexico.

Full Story
The City of San Diego's aggressive maintenance program has resulted in fewer water main breaks in 2020. Photo: City of San Diego

Water Main Breaks Decline in San Diego for Fourth Year in a Row

/in , /by

Increased maintenance efforts by the City of San Diego of its water system infrastructure is paying off for ratepayers. For the fourth year in a row, the number of water main breaks has decreased in the City of San Diego. Thirty-three water main breaks were reported in 2020, the lowest total in more than 15 years.

The City credits its aggressive multi-year program to replace aging pipelines for bringing the numbers far below the peak of 131 breaks in 2010.

“The City’s Public Utilities Department has worked very hard to improve the reliability of our water system infrastructure,” said Shauna Lorance, director of public utilities. “Our citizens benefit greatly from fewer main breaks because it means less water loss and lower emergency repair costs.”

Fifty-five miles of pipeline replaced in next four years

Crews replace old cast iron pipe with new PVC pipe along Park Boulevard. Photo: City of San Diego

Crews replace old cast iron pipe with new PVC pipe along Park Boulevard. Photo: City of San Diego

San Diego’s continuing program to replace old cast iron water mains has played a major part in the decrease in breaks. Some cast-iron pipes had been in service for more than a century. Since 2013, the city has replaced approximately 180 miles of water pipelines. By 2025, the last 55 miles of cast iron water mains are scheduled to be replaced with water mains made of durable polyvinyl chloride.

Water infrastructure maintenance programs also deliver a benefit to our region’s overall economy. According to the Economic Policy Institute, $188.4 billion spent on water infrastructure investments over five years would yield $265 billion in economic activity and create 1.9 million jobs.

“Improving and maintaining our water infrastructure is an important part of our commitment to serving our customers,” said Lorance. “We will continue to provide reliable water services our customers deserve.”

City of San Diego public utilities crew members replace an aging cast iron water pipe at 5th and Robinson in Hillcrest. Photo: City of San Diego water main breaks

City of San Diego public utilities crew members replace an aging cast iron water pipe at 5th and Robinson in Hillcrest. Photo: City of San Diego

City of San Diego public utilities crews routinely oversee preventative maintenance work to help determine potential leaks and breaks before they occur. Private contractors have completed the bulk of the pipeline replacement projects under the direction of the City’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department.

San Diego Experiencing One of Driest Februaries in Nearly 170 years

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

San Diego is experiencing one of the driest Februaries it has had in nearly 170 years due to weather patterns that are sending most winter storms into the Pacific Northwest and Northern California rather than allowing them to drop south, says the National Weather Service.

Full Story