Tag Archive for: The San Diego Union-Tribune

What Will Become Of The Old Carlsbad Power Plant Site?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

The seaside Encina Power Station, a Carlsbad landmark since the 1950s with its iconic boxy concrete building and 400-foot smokestack, has officially been retired to prepare for demolition. Owner NRG Energy Inc. switched off the old plant at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 11 and turned on its replacement. The new, smaller, more efficient “peaker” facility can be fired up in 10 minutes to meet the demands of a summer heat wave, a fallen transmission line or some other sudden development on the power grid.

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Rain Might Spritz San Diego County on Christmas Day

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

There’s a chance that a Pacific storm will blow ashore on Christmas Eve and drop 0.10” to 0.25” of rain on parts of San Diego County by the end of Christmas Day, says the National Weather Service. And that system might be followed by a second storm a couple of days later. “The models don’t agree on the Christmas forecast,” said Phil Gonsalves, a weather service forecaster. “One says rain. The other says it will be dry. We’re going with the wetter model, at the moment. “The storm wouldn’t be nearly as strong as the last couple we’ve had.”

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California Utility Regulators Failed To Properly Oversee Water Suppliers, State Audit Finds

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Jeff McDonald

State utility regulators have not provided the public clear information about water-rate increases or made sure that suppliers notified customers about hearings related to those rate hikes, a new state audit has found. The California Public Utilities Commission also failed to conduct audits of private water utilities as required by law, according to findings released Tuesday by the California State Auditor.

 

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Federal Officials Say Sewage Spill Stopped At U.S-Mexico Border Friday Morning

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

While a ruptured pipe in Mexico continues to spill sewage into the Tijuana River, federal officials said that as of Friday morning the effluent was being captured at the border and diverted to a wastewater treatment facility. Over the last few days, efforts to remove sediment and debris from pumps in the Tijuana River helped restart a diversion system that effectively ended the cross-border impacts at 7 a.m., which reportedly started Monday night from a broken pipe that leaked millions of gallons and shuttered South Bay beaches.

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Tijuana Sewage Nightmare A Grim ‘Groundhog Day’ For San Diego County

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Broken sewage infrastructure in Tijuana early this week sent roughly 7 million gallons a day of sewage into the Tijuana River, leading to beach closures along the south San Diego coast. The cause was a ruptured collector pipe in a part of the sewage system that has already received millions of dollars in upgrades in recent years, according to the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), a joint U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees binational water issues.

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From The Archives December 12, 1947: San Diego Aqueduct Dedicated

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Howard Welty

In 1947 the $14 million San Diego Aqueduct was dedicated and put into operation as the Navy officially turned over control to the County Water Authority. The 71-mile aqueduct brought Colorado River water from Riverside County to the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside. The Navy sponsored and supervised the construction in order to ensure a supply of water for the important naval and military establishments in and around San Diego. When Colorado River water finally flowed through the aqueduct into San Vicente Reservoir, San Diego had less than a month’s supply on hand.

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Sewage Spill Continues To Pollute Tijuana River For Third Straight Day

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

A sewage spill that federal officials said started Monday night south of the border continues to flood the Tijuana River with millions of gallons of raw effluent. A ruptured collector pipe in southeast Tijuana is leaking roughly 7 million gallons a day of sewage into the river, according to the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission. The IBWC said utility officials in Baja would attempt to divert the flows Wednesday from the Tijuana River back into CESPT’s wastewater treatment system.

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Cold Snap Chills Early Risers, But The Coming Rain Is More Worrisome

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

A cold front moved through San Diego County before dawn Monday, dropping temperatures into the 30s across some inland areas and into the 40s and 50s at and near the coast, says the National Weather Service. San Diego International Airport fell to 50 before dawn, Montgomery Field dropped to 45, Oceanside and Imperial Beach dropped to 48, Julian hit 37.

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Top State Utility Regulator Intervened in Cost Study for Expanded Energy Grid, Records Show

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Jeff McDonald

One of the most pressing questions about a plan to expand the California power grid to as many as 14 states was how much it would cost to transfer oversight of the poles and wires from a state-run nonprofit to a regional board of appointees. The California Public Utilities Commission told lawmakers the plan to redefine the way electricity is regulated would cost the agency $700,000. But according to internal documents obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune, the price tag for the so-called regional power grid was $2.4 million when it was developed by rank-and-file analysts. Utilities commission President Michael Picker rejected that finding as too high.

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Fighting Denial in the Face of Water Shortages, Wildfires and Rising Seas

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens

“We’ve been in denial for a long time,” a water official said about Borrego Springs residents coming to terms with a looming water shortage. Those desert folks aren’t alone. Denial about changes and limits in the natural world is running into harsh reality, whether it’s regarding water supply, wildfires or sea-level rise. A cold snap back East or rain in California doesn’t change any of that. While the politically charged debate over climate change rages at high levels, states and local communities are having to deal with its effects. Consensus on solutions is hard to find because, invariably, there are big economic and quality-of-life issues at stake.

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