The optimism spurred by heavy snowstorms in December has melted away, and the 2022 water year is now looking bleak.
After facing the driest recorded January and February in state history, California Department of Water Resources reported that statewide, the snowpack stood at 63% of average for the date last week after conducting the agency’s third manual snow survey of the year.
The City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District partnered on a new project with funding from the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to encourage water conservation and reduce the use of plastic.
Five hydration stations have been installed in San Marcos parks to encourage the use of refilling reusable bottles during outdoor activities instead of using purchased bottled water. Both the City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District are committed to reducing single-use plastics.
The City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District partnered on a new project with funding from the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to encourage water conservation and reduce the use of plastic.
Five hydration stations have been installed in San Marcos parks to encourage the use of refilling reusable bottles during outdoor activities instead of using purchased bottled water. Both the City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District are committed to reducing single-use plastics.
The new hydration stations help conserve water and avoid the production of single-use plastic bottles. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
The hydration station project received $25,000 in grant funding from the Water Authority and MWD to cover the purchase and installation of the stations and educational signage informing the public about the benefits of tap water over bottled water. The signage also offers several additional steps people can take to conserve water.
“Adding hydration stations throughout the community has been a longtime goal for Vallecitos and is a step in the right direction to increase access to clean drinking water and reduce single-use plastic waste for environmental sustainability,” said Vallecitos board member Mike Sannella. Sannella accepted a proclamation from the City of San Marcos commemorating the partnership, making this project possible.
(L to R): Vallecitos Water District Board President Mike Sannella, San Marcos City Councilmember Randy Walton, Mayor Rebecca Jones, Councilmembers Maria Nunez, Ed Musgrove, Sharon Jenkins, and Vallecitos Water District Board Jim Pennock. Photo: Vallecitos Water District
Each of the five new hydration stations features a quick-fill mechanism to encourage reusable water bottle use, a regular water fountain spout, and a dog bowl. Vallecitos worked with the City of San Marcos’ Public Works Department to install hydration stations at Mission Sports Field Park, Woodland Park, Bradley Park, Connors Park, and Buelow Park.
Bottled water is a wasteful convenience. According to the Water Footprint Calculator, it takes 1.5 gallons of water to manufacture a single plastic bottle holding 16 ounces of drinking water. All plastic drinking bottles are made from new plastic material, so there is no recovery due to recycling.
(Editor’s note: The Vallecitos Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
The Water Utility Climate Alliance has added the Water Authority’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to its mitigation case studies library. The case studies provide valuable information and inspiration for greenhouse gas mitigation or sewage thermal energy use projects from concept to implementation for water utilities across the U.S.
Construction work is underway in several areas of San Diego, building major infrastructure projects for Phase 1 of Pure Water San Diego.
Phase 1 of Pure Water San Diego, including pipelines, pump stations, and treatment facilities, has started in Morena, Bay Park, Clairemont, University City, Miramar, and Scripps Ranch communities. It is a milestone toward the realization of securing a local, drought-resilient water supply for San Diegans for generations to come.
Pure Water is the City of San Diego’s largest-ever infrastructure program that will provide nearly half of San Diego’s water supply by 2035. Pure Water will use purification technology to clean recycled wastewater and is a cost-effective investment for San Diego’s water supply needs.
Residents, businesses, and commuters may be impacted by road closures, detours, and construction noise during construction. Construction for this project will primarily take place on weeknights from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., except on Nobel Drive, when construction will take place on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tunneling work will be done around the clock with adherence to noise requirements.
“Potholing” is underground work that finds the location and depth of existing utilities in the public right-of-way. Potholing is currently being done for the Morena Northern Pipeline & Tunnels and the North City Pure Water San Diego Pipeline projects. Photo: City of San Diego
Upon its completion, Pure Water San Diego will contribute 30 million gallons per day of high-quality purified water, reducing the City’s dependence on imported water.
The Morena Northern Pipelines and Tunnels project now underway will connect to the Morena Pipelines Middle Alignment to the south and the North City Water Reclamation Plant to the north.
This project includes portions of two 10.5-mile pipelines: one 48-inch wastewater pipeline, which will carry wastewater north to the North City facilities for purification, and one 30-inch brine line that will carry the byproduct from water purification south to the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant.
This project begins on Genesee Avenue and Appleton Street and continues on Genesee Avenue, Nobel Drive, Towne Centre Drive, and Executive Drive. Tunneling will be completed at Genesee Avenue and State Route 52 (San Clemente Creek), at Genesee Avenue and Rose Creek Canyon, and under Interstate 805.
This project begins on Genesee Avenue and Appleton Street and continues on Genesee Avenue, Nobel Drive, Towne Centre Drive, and Executive Drive. Tunneling will be completed at Genesee Avenue and State Route 52 (San Clemente Creek), at Genesee Avenue and Rose Creek Canyon, and under Interstate 805. Map: City of San Diego
Currently, the City of San Diego depends primarily on a reliable imported water supply to deliver clean and safe drinking water to its communities. The investment in advanced water purification with the construction of Pure Water San Diego will help secure a high-quality, safe, local, and drought-proof water supply for the future. Phase 1 is scheduled to be completed and commence operation in 2024. Pure Water San Diego will eventually provide nearly half of San Diego’s water supply locally by 2035 with the completion of Phase 2.
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 Water Treatment Plant. After this process, the water will be distributed to customers.
You can take a virtual tour of Pure Water San Diego’s demonstration facility at virtualtour.purewatersd.org More information about the Program can be found at www.purewatersd.org.
(Editor’s Note: The City of San Diego is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
Some Colorado River scholars say that a plan by the lower-basin states to leave more water in Lake Mead embodies a principle they explore in a recently published article: Dropping reservoir levels have opened a window of opportunity for water-management policies that move the river system toward sustainability.
In December, water managers from California, Nevada and Arizona signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to spend up to $200 million to add 500,000 acre-feet of water in both 2022 and 2023 to Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, which has dropped precipitously low due to climate change and drought.
The San Diego County Water Authority has earned Climate Registered gold status from The Climate Registry for verifying and publicly reporting its greenhouse gas emissions. The effort fosters transparency for the agency’s climate mitigation initiatives and will help the Water Authority track and validate emissions reductions in the future.
The Climate Registry operates North America’s largest voluntary registry for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Water Authority’s 2019 and 2020 inventories were verified and published in The Climate Registry’s public database in November, earning the agency gold status for both years.
By the end of December, the city will begin turning recycled water into drinkable water through its new, state-of-the-art water purification facility, the first of its kind in San Diego County.
The new water purification system, dubbed Pure Water Oceanside, uses ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and an advanced oxidation process to purify recycled wastewater.
“It’s inspired by the natural water cycle and is the natural next step for recycling our precious water resource that we currently discharge into the ocean without tapping into its full potential,” said Oceanside Water Utilities Director Cari Dale, who has led the project.
To support and protect your investment in waterwise landscaping, you need to have a strong irrigation IQ and understand the basics. You’ll be able to best maintain and maximize your system’s efficiency, which is vitally important during times of drought in the San Diego region.
Letting sprinklers run to excess is an example of a poorly performing irrigation system due to bad design, inadequate maintenance, and improper management and it’s unacceptable. Photo: Wolfgang Bantz
Well-designed and operated systems can reliably deliver the necessary water to sustain your landscaping without waste or excess. Poorly performing systems can suffer due to bad design, inadequate maintenance, and improper management.
A shutoff valve (ball valve) can be manually operated to cut off the water supply in the event of a leak, a malfunction, or a major repair.
The anti-siphon valve, when activated by an irrigation controller, delivers water through a PVC pipe lateral irrigation line, ultimately reaching the sprinkler head, which applies the water to your landscaping.
Efficient irrigation components are designed to operate at lower pressure levels, as specified by each product manufacturer. Devices are more likely to fail under excess pressure, and damage can occur.
A pressure regulator will eliminate excess pressure.
A submeter can be installed where the irrigation system tees off the mainline to the house. It is a recommended option for large properties to keep track of the actual volume of water being applied to the landscape. Single-family homes typically have a single mixed-use meter which doesn’t distinguish between indoor and outdoor water use. An alternative is to install a flow sensor working in tandem with a smart controller.
Low-volume irrigation devices like rotary nozzles and micro or drip irrigation are designed to deliver water to the landscape at a slower rate. This better approximates the infiltration rate of the soil and reduces runoff.
Smart controllers will automatically adjust irrigation schedules in response to changing weather conditions. They come in two varieties. ET controllers monitor weather conditions. Soil moisture-based controllers directly sample the moisture in the ground. These devices also have features like “cycle and soak functions that can help eliminate runoff. When selecting a controller, look for brands with the EPA WaterSense ® label.
This article is part of a year-long series inspired by the 71-page Sustainable Landscapes Program guidebook. The Water Authority and its partners also offer other great resources for landscaping upgrades, including free WaterSmart classes at WaterSmartSD.org.
The bustle of birds and insect pollinators is the first thing you notice at Full Belly Farm in Guinda, about 100 miles northeast of San Francisco in the Capay Valley, where Judith Redmond and her partners started farming four decades ago.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
