Tag Archive for: The San Diego Union-Tribune

OPINION: Borrego Springs’ Water Dilemma Demands County Response

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

The tiny, remote dot in northeastern San Diego County known as Borrego Springs and its several thousand residents face a daunting task: To survive, they need to ensure they use the same amount of water as the town has in its sole aquifer, which provides declining supplies. Officials expect to have 75 percent less water available by 2040, and they say the town must allow most of its 3,800 acres of citrus and other farms — which use 70 percent to 80 percent of all the community’s groundwater — to fallow. The narrowly defeated Proposition 3, the $8.8 billion state water bond, would have provided $35 million to fallow the farms, which would then become part of adjacent Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Now there’s talk of pursuing a new water bond or seeking help from the Legislature to fallow farms and retrain about 60 farm workers for other jobs.

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Defeat Of Water Bond Imperils Desert Community Of Borrego Springs

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones

It’s back to square one for the desert community of Borrego Springs, which is facing the daunting task of reducing its consumption of water by at least 75 percent in the coming decades. Mostly lost in the hubbub surrounding the Nov. 6 election was the defeat of Proposition 3, an $8.8 billion state water bond. Had it passed, Borrego Springs would have received $35 million to fallow most of the 3,800 acres of citrus and other farms in the northern part of the community.

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HOA Homefront: Saving Our Lawns Or Saving Our Artificial Turf?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Kelly G. Richardson

Our board has indicated that they plan to remove all turf from the front yards of our community and replace it with various types of non-turf plants. The vast majority of homeowners oppose such a plan. Can a board make a decision of this nature and magnitude without homeowner approval? Their decision would make a highly significant change to the appearance of our community.

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Thanksgiving Day Storm Will Be Weak, Short-Lived — Not Close To What San Diego Needs

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

A major storm out of the North Pacific will drench parts of Northern and Central California this week. But the system will fall apart by the time it gets to Southern California, producing only minute amounts of precipitation in San Diego County on Thanksgiving Day, says the National Weather Service. “San Diego will only get about one-tenth of an inch of rain between late Wednesday night through Thanksgiving Day,” said Joe Dandrea, a weather service forecaster. “The mountains could get a little more. Then things should mostly clear up.

 

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Wild Santa Ana Winds Take A Toll — But Don’t Spread Wildfire In San Diego

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins, Rob Nikolewski and Karen Kucher

Downed trees. Closed schools. Dead power lines. Dust-choked freeways. Frayed nerves. Pinched sinuses. The arid Santa Ana winds made life miserable across San Diego County for a second straight day on Tuesday. But by mid-afternoon, the region had escaped what it fears most: a major wildfire. And that was seen as something of a miracle by the National Weather Service.

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Santa Ana Winds Hitting San Diego Hard For Second Straight Day, Over Wider Area

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins, Rob Nikolewski and Karen Kucher

Five rural East County school districts will be closed on Tuesday and SDG&E turned off power to more of its customers due to a second straight day of powerful Santa Ana winds and an elevated risk of wildfires. Before dawn on Tuesday, the wind had already gusted to 86 mph at Sill Hill, an isolated peak in the Cuyamaca mountains, southwest of Julian. Alpine hit 65, mph Descanso reached 56 mph, Julian hit 42, mph and Carlsbad recorded gusts to 38 mph.

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Is California Going The Way Of Germany When It Comes To Energy?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

One place possesses the fourth-largest economy in the world. Another is home to the fifth-largest. Both places have instituted ambitious energy and climate goals. But one — Germany — is struggling to meet those targets and its citizens pay some of the highest electricity prices in the industrialized world. Is the German experience a cautionary tale for the other place — California? It’s a question increasingly on the minds of some energy experts in the Golden State.

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Red Flag Fire Weather Warning Issued For San Diego County

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

A red flag fire weather warning will be in place across San Diego County, with the exception of the coast, from 10 a.m. Thursday afternoon to 10 p.m. Friday due to a combination of moderate Santa Ana winds, low humidity and warm temperatures. The National Weather Service says the winds will arrive out of the northeast and will blow 20 to 30 mph, with gusts to 30 to 40 mph, mostly across the region’s valleys and mountains. A few gusts could reach the 50 to 65 mph range, especially in the Alpine area.

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State Board Again Delays Vote On Contentious River Plan

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Bettina Boxall

Under pressure from Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, state regulators once again postponed a vote on a contentious plan to force San Francisco and several big San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts to give up some of their water supplies for environmental protection. On the eve of Wednesday’s scheduled vote, Brown and the man who will succeed him next year, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, asked for a month’s delay and promised to get involved in ongoing settlement negotiations.

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San Diego Unified Likely To Tackle Lead In Drinking Water And Security Upgrades With New Bond Money This Summer

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Kristen Taketa

Voters delivered a solid endorsement of the San Diego Unified School District on Tuesday when they approved a $3.5 billion bond measure for the school system, the district’s largest ever bond measure and the third approved since 2008. About 62 percent of voters said yes to Measure YY, despite critical media coverage of the measure, opposition from watchdog groups and residents and “no” endorsements from multiple organizations, including the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, which only disapproved of one other school bond measure on Tuesday’s ballot.

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