In Crowley County, Colorado, sugar beets and alfalfa used to line the fields. It’s cantaloupes were famous.
But that all changed about three decades ago when most of the farmers sold their water rights to rapidly growing cities on the Front Range.
The Integrated Regional Water Management agreement between San Diego County, the city of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority was scheduled to expire Dec. 31, but the IRWM will be extended for at least another five years.
The county Board of Supervisors voted 5-0, Wednesday, Oct. 28, to approve a new memorandum of understanding with the city and the County Water Authority. That agreement will cover the period from Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2025.
An update to the plan for meeting the region’s long-term water needs is under development by the San Diego County Water Authority, in collaboration with its 24 member agencies. Once completed, the Water Authority’s 2020 Urban Water Management Plan will serve as the long-term guide to ensure a reliable water supply that sustains the region’s 3.3 million residents and its $245 billion economy.
The Water Authority Board of Directors’ Water Planning and Environment Committee is holding a special online meeting at 1:30 p.m. on November 12 for an update on the developing plan.
Years in the works, Menlo Park’s first recycled water system is up and running, carrying wastewater from local households to the Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, where a new treatment facility cleans the water for irrigation use, keeping the golf course a lush emerald green.
The Helix Water District honored local student artists within its service area for their winning “Water Is Life” posters at a virtual awards ceremony during the District’s board meeting on October 28. Helix promotes the contest to all elementary schools within its service area. This year, 174 students from 14 schools submitted posters depicting how to use water wisely.
Water use in the San Diego region was one of the positive trends in the 2020 Quality of Life Dashboard report released today by the Equinox Project. The Quality of Life Dashboard measures and benchmarks environmental and economic trends throughout the region. Half of the 16 indicators used to measure San Diego County’s quality of life were either positive or neutral in 2019.
The Helix Water District honored local student artists within its service area for their winning “Water Is Life” posters at a virtual awards ceremony during the District’s board meeting on October 28.
Each year, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California holds a regional poster contest for students in kindergarten through sixth grade to increase student’s awareness about water.
Helix promotes the contest to all elementary schools within its service area. This year, 174 students from 14 schools submitted posters depicting how to use water wisely.
First Place – Gabriel Espino, Lemon Avenue Elementary, Grade 3.
Second Place – Marvin Sears III, La Mesa Dale Elementary, Grade 3.
Third Place – Alexander Mollner, St. John of the Cross, Grade 2.
Honorable Mention – Pashaun Tillman, La Mesa Dale Elementary, Grade 3.
Honorable Mention – Lily Griffin, Murdock Elementary, Grade 3.
First Place – Jose Sabedra, Bostonia Language Academy, Grade 4.
Second Place – Nurah Avellano, St. John of the Cross, Grade 6.
Third Place – Mina Saeed, Lexington Elementary, Grade 4.
Honorable Mention – Valeria Ramirez-Quiroz, St. John of the Cross, Grade 5.
Honorable Mention – Giselle Villegas Garcia, Lemon Grove Academy, Grade 5.
The winning posters will be sent to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to compete in the annual 2021 “Water Is Life” calendar competition against entries from other Southern California schools.
Fifth grader Valeria Ramirez-Quiroz of St. John of the Cross was a local 2019 winner as a fourth grader, and her poster was selected for the 2020 Metropolitan Water District “Water is Life”calendar.
Winning posters are also posted for display on the district’s website at www.hwd.com and Facebook page.
Helix Water District provides water treatment and distribution for 277,000 people in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove, the community of Spring Valley and areas of Lakeside — east of downtown San Diego. Helix also provides treated water to neighboring Padre Dam, Otay and Lakeside water districts.
The City of San Diego’s Pure Water Demonstration Facility public tour is now available as a virtual tour. A new video provides an up-close look at the technology behind the water purification plant. In-person tours are on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic and will resume once it is safe to do so. Since opening in June 2011, nearly 19,000 people have toured the one-million-gallon-per-day facility in person.
The City of San Diego’s Pure Water Demonstration Facility public tour is now available as a virtual tour. A new video provides an up-close look at the technology behind the water purification plant. In-person tours are on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic and will resume once it is safe to do so.
Since opening in June 2011, nearly 19,000 people have toured the one-million-gallon-per-day facility in person. Now, the Pure Water Demonstration Facility Virtual Tour takes viewers step-by-step through each of the five treatment processes used to create Pure Water.
Members of the City Pure Water team including wastewater operators, engineers, and water resource specialists explain the equipment and technology. Each is accompanied by graphics and animations showing the inner workings of each barrier. The video also includes drone footage for a bird’s-eye view perspective not previously available to the public.
Construction of Phase 1 of the Pure Water Program is scheduled to begin in early 2021. Phase 1 will include a full-scale, 30-million-gallon-per-day Pure Water Facility that will use the five water purification steps modeled at the Demonstration Facility.
The North City Pure Water Facility will be constructed on a City of San Diego owned parcel east of Interstate 805 and north of Eastgate Mall, across from the existing North City Water Reclamation Plant.
Senior Wastewater Operations Supervisor John Carroll gives viewers a bird’s eye view of the facility. Photo: City of San Diego
Purified water produced at the completed plant will be delivered to the Miramar Reservoir, blended with the City of San Diego’s imported and local water sources, and treated again at the existing Miramar Drinking Water Treatment Plant. After this process, the water will be distributed to customers. Phase 1 projects are expected to be completed in 2025.
The tour video is available at virtualtour.purewatersd.org More information about the Program can be found at www.purewatersd.org.
In the midst of the last drought, California took its first step to regulate how the state uses groundwater. But advocates worry the new rules have favored big agricultural users over small communities, particularly in areas like the San Joaquin Valley.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
