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San Diego Water Bill Audit Finds Thousands Of Errors, Meter Readers Can Bypass Accuracy Checks

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Bradley J. Fikes

A major, months-long audit of the city’s utilities department, sparked by a public outcry over high water bills, concluded that 2,750 water bills sent to San Diego residents last year were incorrect and had to be readjusted while discovering that 10 meter readers accounted for 71 percent of the errors. The city audit released Thursday also found that meter readers figured out how to bypass an accuracy check required when meters are read and the city’s Public Utilities Department doesn’t measure the performance of its 36 meter readers.

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OPINION: New California Water Storage? About Time

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

It has long been plain that California must do a better job of capturing rainfall and melting snow by adding water storage. Yet for decades, governors, lawmakers and bureaucrats have struggled to agree on funding for new or expanded dams or reservoirs — even as the state’s population has grown amid droughts from 25 million in 1982 to 40 million now.

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Coping With The Heat Wave? No Sweat. Well, Some Sweat. But Things Could Be Worse

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins, Cliff Kapono and Rob Nikolewski

n the Anza-Borrego desert, where a puff of wind can leave you choking on peach-colored dirt, Andrea Taylor got straight to the point Tuesday when asked to describe the weather. “It’s hotter than hell,” said Taylor, who works in the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association office in Borrego Springs. “I think that’s the official statement.” The temperature peaked at 118 degrees at Borrego Springs on the second day of a heat wave that is expected to last until Thursday, when it fades, like air leaking from a balloon.

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State Urges Public To Cut Power Consumption Due To Heat Wave

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

The operator of the state’s electric grid is urging the public to cut power consumption on Tuesday and Wednesday to help California get through what’s expected to be a record-breaking heat wave. The Flex Alerts are the first issued this year by the California Independent System Operator Corp. (CAISO) and will remain in effect from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. both days. “This heat wave could be like a long one we had in 2006, when lots of records were set and there were power problems,” said Alex Tardy, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Rancho Bernardo.

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San Diego Braces For High Temperatures, High Surf And Highly Dangerous Rip Currents

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

A summer heat wave will coincide with a large south swell this week in San Diego County, driving people to the coast where treacherous rip currents will roil near shore waters from Oceanside to Imperial Beach, says the National Weather Service. An excessive heat warning will be in effect in all areas except the coast from 10 a.m. Monday until 8 p.m. on Thursday. Temperatures will range from the 80s at and near the coast to the 90s and low 100s in some inland valleys and foothills, the weather service says. Temperatures will peak on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Hike Highlights Progress Along The San Diego River, A Once-Beleaguered Waterway On The Rise

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

Environmental advocates led a hike along the San Diego River in Mission Valley on Sunday morning to build awareness about ongoing efforts to remove invasive species from its banks. The San Diego River Park Foundation hosted the hour-long jaunt, showing off a dramatically improved section of the river located in the 52-acre Mission Valley Preserve. About a dozen folks in wide-brimmed hats and toting water bottles listened as Marina Varano, outreach associate with the foundation, educated the crowd about efforts to restore the riparian habitat.

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Desalination Plant Brings Relief To Ensenada Residents Struggling With Limited Water Supply

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Sandra Dibble

Baja California’s first utility-scale desalination plant has launched operations, supplying 5.7 million gallons a day of converted seawater to municipal water users in the port of Ensenada. The reverse-osmosis facility, which has the capacity to double in size, is seen as a critical piece of infrastructure for Ensenada, whose 390,000 residents have been almost entirely dependent on aquifers for their water supply.

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OPINION: Why A Regional Power Grid Brings Energy Security

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Allan Zaremberg

Reliable energy infrastructure is a hallmark of a modern world, and affordable power is vital for economic development and social cohesion. Ensuring that electricity is both affordable and reliable are ultimately the responsibility of our state government leaders when they set the ground rules for how electricity is generated and how it is transmitted around the grid.

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OPINION: Why Energy Policy Must Include Environmental Justice

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Carolina Martinez and Diana Vazquez

In 2010, San Diegans won a huge victory in decommissioning the South Bay Power Plant. The natural-gas fired plant raised concerns about poor air quality and asthma in the surrounding Latino/a community of Chula Vista for too long. It occupied precious San Diego Bayfront land, and perpetuated our state’s dependence on fossil fuels at a time when we needed to turn towards renewable energy.

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Water Agencies Increase Incentives To Replace Turf

/in , /by /Pomerado News Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Residents in San Diego County now can receive $2.75 per square foot for replacing turf with sustainable landscaping features as part of a new Landscape Transformation Program launched this week across Southern California. The new program includes a partnership by the San Diego County Water Authority and the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to boost the per-square-foot incentive amount available in the water authority’s service area and streamline the application process.

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