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LAFCO Report Recommends County Taking Over VC Parks

As expected, San Diego County LAFCO’s Municipal Service Review of the Valley Center Municipal Water District, Valley Center Fire Protection District and VC Parks & Rec District (which is referred to in the report as  VC Community Services District)—now available for public review—includes a recommendation that the County take over the parks district, and that the parks be put under a standalone County Service Area that would be run by the County, although with an advisory committee that would probably start with the current board of directors. 

San Diego County Water Authority Makes Settlement Offer to End Litigation

The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) sent a comprehensive settlement offer to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) last month that would end nearly a decade of ongoing litigation over rates between the two agencies.

For over a year, SDCWA had been meeting in confidential settlement discussions with MWD to find an equitable resolution to litigation over MWD’s rates.

County Water Authority Makes SAWR Permanent

The San Diego County Water Authority has a program called the Transitional Special Agricultural Water Rate, and the SDCWA will be transitioning the TSAWR into a permanent program.

A unanimous CWA board vote on Nov. 21 approved making the SAWR permanent. An annual review of the SAWR will be conducted in conjunction with other rates and charges and the cost of service process to determine SAWR rates is expected to be completed in spring 2020.

County Approves Special Agricultural Water Program

The San Diego County Water Authority board recently approved a permanent, special agricultural water rate structure that offers lower rates to farmers in exchange for lower water supply reliability.

Unlike the current, temporary program, the new program will let new participants join as a way to strengthen the region’s multi-billion-dollar agriculture industry.

CWA Approves Completion Notices, Final Change Order for Moosa Canyon Pipeline Repair

The completion of the emergency repair to the San Diego County Water Authority’s Pipeline 4 in Moosa Canyon led the SDCWA board to approve notices of completion which will release funds to the contractors, and the CWA board also ratified the final change order for the repair work.

The Nov. 21 CWA board action accepts the emergency repair work by J.F. Shea Construction Inc. and the carbon fiber repair work by Fibrwrap Construction Services Inc. as complete while also ratifying a $200,000 change order in the emergency contract with J.F. Shea.

New General Manager Appointed by San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors

After serving for eight months as the acting general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), Sandra L. Kerl has been appointed as the new general manager of the water agency following a national search by the SDCWA’s Board of Directors (BOD). The water agency’s BOD approved Kerl’s contract last week during its regular monthly meeting.

Poway Man is Saving Money by Saving Rain

Bob Raibert loved the green grass growing in his Poway front yard when he bought his home four years ago. The affinity wore off when he got his first water bill.

“For two months it was $600,” he said. “The front yard was all grass; about 5,000 square feet of grass.”

Raipert did some research and spoke to experts.

He redid his entire front and backyard. The grass has been replaced with drought tolerant plants and artificial grass.

Sandra L. Kerl Finalist for Water Authority GM Post

The Board officers of the San Diego County Water Authority announced today that they are negotiating contract terms with Sandra L. Kerl to be the next general manager of the region’s wholesale water agency, following a months-long national search. The contract would be voted on in open session during the regular Board meeting scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 at Water Authority headquarters.

Water Flows Again Through Pipeline From Temecula to Chula Vista After Repairs to Crack

A pipeline that spans almost the entire length of San Diego County is back in use after engineers spent weeks patching a massive crack in the pipe’s infrastructure.

The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) discovered a leak in September to a portion of its 90-inch Pipeline 4, which has carried water since 1966 from the Skinner Water Treatment Plant near Temecula down to the Otay Reservoir near Chula Vista.

NBC 7 was the only news media outlet invited inside the pipe in September before repairs began. The pipeline was shut off Sept. 16 with the cooperation of the Water Authority’s member agencies.

Rep. Levin Touts Bipartisan Efforts to Fund Water Supply Reliability

Rep. Mike Levin said California’s innovations and investments in water supply reliability and renewable energy are a model for the nation – and that the state’s efforts protect the environment while growing the economy at the same time.

Levin, an attorney and congressman from San Juan Capistrano, represents the 49th District, which includes, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside and a portion of southern Orange County.

He made his remarks November 6 during a Legislative Roundtable at the San Diego County Water Authority attended by water agency board members and staff, local civic and business leaders and Citizens Water Academy graduates.