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In California, Farmers Test a Method to Sink More Water into Underground Stores

In recent decades, as water has grown increasingly precious, Californians have tried countless ways to find more of it and make it last longer, including covering agricultural canals with solar panels to prevent evaporation, building costly desalination plants and pulling out tracts of water-hungry grass.

Infrastructure Bill Includes Funding for Western Water Systems

The U.S. House Nov. 5 voted 228-206 to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that includes $8.3 billion dollars in water-related investments.

The package, HR 3684, includes investments in dams, waterways, flood prevention efforts, drought resilience, groundwater storage and conveyance, aquifer recharge projects and other water works.

Drinking Water Reservoir

Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir to Improve Water Reliability

The San Diego County Water Authority is gearing up to construct a 2.1 million-gallon drinking water reservoir on the Valley Center Pipeline to enhance service reliability throughout the region. The Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir project in northern San Diego County is part of the Water Authority’s Capital Improvement Program.

Construction work is scheduled to begin in early 2021 and is estimated to be completed in the winter of 2022. The project includes demolition of an abandoned steel tank, and construction of a new 2.1 million-gallon concrete reservoir, isolation vault, and underground flow control facility, as well as other site improvements.

New infrastructure development by the Water Authority and its 24 member agencies ensures the delivery of water to support the region’s $245 billion economy and the quality of life for 3.3 million residents.

Hauck Mesa-Storage Reservoir-infrastructure

The Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir will temporarily store drinking water pumped from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant and the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant. Graphic: San Diego County Water Authority

Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir

The new storage reservoir will improve water deliveries by temporarily storing drinking water pumped to the Valley Center Municipal Water District, Vallecitos Water District, Vista Irrigation District, and the Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant and the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant. The stored water will safeguard water deliveries from unanticipated water interruptions or pump station outages.

“This project is just one of the infrastructure improvement projects the Water Authority is undertaking to fulfill the agency’s mission to provide a safe and reliable water supply for today and the future,” said Kirk Whitaker, the Water Authority’s project manager.

The Water Authority will work closely with the Valley Center community, Valley Center Municipal Water District, and homeowners to minimize short term construction impacts in the area to ensure safe, uninterrupted water service. For more information on the Hauck Mesa Storage Reservoir project, go to the Water Authority’s Future Projects webpage.

Solar and Storage Advocates Call for Real-Time Pricing Option in California

Real-time pricing of electricity can help integrate renewables, reduce costly and polluting peak-period generation, and save customers money, the trade groups say. They call for California to make real-time pricing an option in the San Diego area.