The city of San Diego reminded water customers this month that rates are increasing 4.82% beginning Sept. 1 to help pay for water reliability and infrastructure improvements.
Combined with the 1.46% increase in water rates from the San Diego County Water Authority, the total increase is 6.28%. This is less than the 7% increase originally approved by the City Council for fiscal year 2020.
A chance of thunderstorms will persist Thursday in most parts of San Diego County as the mercury continues to rise heading into the weekend. Thunderstorms will be possible in the inland valleys, the deserts and the mountains Thursday afternoon, according to the local office of the National Weather Service. Partly cloudy skies are expected in the coastal areas. The skies are expected to clear throughout the county by Friday morning, meteorologist Jimmy Taeger said. The chance of measurable precipitation has been set at 20 percent Thursday for the inland valleys, the mountains and the deserts, according to the weather service.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it awarded a $100,000 contract to a San Diego-based technology company to develop technology to monitor water quality. The grant, awarded to 2W iTech LLC, is one of nearly two dozen awarded by the EPA through its Small Business Innovation Research program. The EPA awarded grants worth a combined $2.3 million to 21 companies across the country to develop technologies to improve environmental and human health, monitor air and water quality and clean contaminated areas. With its grant, 2W iTech will develop a low-cost method to identify trace amounts of perfluoroalkyl substances in water at a rate as small as 10 parts per trillion.
The University of San Diego dedicated on Wednesday the second free-standing solar and wind energy tower installed on its campus by a local startup.
The National Weather Service office in San Diego is forecasting the first summer heat wave for the end of this week, with inland temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above normal.
A study led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggests that a new pattern of wet and dry extremes is emerging in California with extreme precipitation caused by streams of moisture in the sky known as atmospheric rivers.
Former San Diego city council member and now San Diego County Water Authority board chair Jim Madaffer has endorsed Patrick Batten in the race for council District 5.
“I proudly endorse Patrick Batten because of his leadership and experience,” said Madaffer. “Before Patrick joined the Marine Corps he worked for the County of San Diego and the State Assembly handling policy issues, including water. His experience provides an understanding of the nuances of California’s water policy.”
The San Diego County Water Authority officially celebrated it 75th year at a board meeting Thursday, while also approving a record $1.7 billion, two-year budget. On June 9, 1944, San Diego voters approved the Water Authority’s formation. Three years later, water from the Colorado River began arriving to support the growing post-war population of San Diego. “It is a pleasure to celebrate the San Diego County Water Authority’s 75th anniversary. We share a common history and a common vision for water-supply reliability that has been essential to the economic vitality and prosperity to all San Diegans.
Jim Madaffer of the San Diego County Water Authority has been named to the Colorado River Board of California, which represents the state in talks with other states and federal agencies regarding management of the Colorado River.
The appointment was announced Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. Madaffer, 59, is a former San Diego councilman who has been president of Madaffer Enterprises since 2009. Now the chair of the county Water Authority board of directors, he’s a former Jerry Brown appointee to the California Transportation Commission, but resigned in January after becoming chair of the water authority.
A respected annual quality of life report for San Diego released Wednesday showed improvements in six areas, but declines in four. The biggest issues in this year’s Quality of Life Dashboard were housing affordability and traffic congestion, though slight increases in water use and landfill waste were also noted. “Commuters in 2018 spent more than eight hours extra on the freeways, nearly an hour more than in 2016,” according to the report.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
