Posts

City Spent Almost $2M More On Troubled ‘Smart’ Water Meter Program Than Authorized

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

The city water department spent $1.8 million more on its “smart meter” program between 2012 and 2015 than the City Council had approved. The kicker? The money went to buy meters from a company that has since told the city and investors about problems with its equipment. In the earliest days of the city’s “smart meter” program, the City Council gave water department officials approval to buy $2.1 million worth of new meters from one company over three years. In the first year of the contract, the water department spent $3 million. Over the next two years it spent another $1 million.

Full Story

Environment Report: Tribes Want A Say In The Colorado River’s Future

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

There are several ticking time bombs in western water. The first is obvious. How much less water will fall from the sky because of climate change? Another big one is barely talked about and will take decades if not a century to end. How will bureaucrats, lawmakers and the courts deal with the rights of Native American tribes that have claims to water from the Colorado River? The Colorado is already suffering because states that rely on it — largely California and Arizona — are taking more out of the river than snow and rain put back in. After two decades of drought, this “structural deficit” is close to becoming a crisis for millions of Americans and Mexicans who depend on the river’s water.

Full Story

San Diego Unified Taps Into National Lead Fears In Bond Campaign

/in , /by /Voice Of San Diegoby Will Huntsberry and Ry Rivard

The San Diego Unified School District argues that any amount of lead in school drinking water is damaging to children. At the same time, it has found lead in water at some schools, does not remove all of it and is allowing kids to drink it. The argument that lead is in the water and is hurting kids has become the main selling point for Measure YY, the district’s school bond campaign. Though the bond is expected to generate $3.5 billion, only $45 million – less than 2 percent – would go to remove lead from school district water, district documents show.

Full Story

Environment Report: This Is What Global Warming Feels Like

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

The repeated and dire predictions about climate change can blur together. But a streak of rare and unbearable humidity in San Diego combined with recent record hot ocean water seemed to be a wake-up call for our region: This is what global warming feels like. With that in mind, there have been a few important recent reports at every level of government on what is headed our way. At the end of September, the state released a report on what climate change likely means for San Diego. Sea level rise is one major danger, and could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage each year and render parts of the coast unlivable.

Full Story

New Desalination Plant On Hold

/in , /by /Voice Of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Plans to build a new plant at Camp Pendleton to make ocean water drinkable are on hold, in part due to falling demand for water, thanks to state-urged conservation efforts. The San Diego County Water Authority had spent $5.4 million on the now-abandoned plan, though it says technical studies it’s already done could be used in the future.

Full Story

Water Authority Has An Ally In Atkins

/in , /by /Voice Of San Diegoby Sara Libby and Ry Rivard Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority helped delay a legislative hearing about the future of the State Water Project, the 700-mile water system that provides water from Northern California’s rivers to over 25 million state residents. The Water Authority is seeking to lower its own rates, even though it may be increasing others’. The agency hopes the state or the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will agree to spare San Diego ratepayers certain expenses associated with Gov. Jerry Brown’s $20 billion twin tunnels project. After years of outright skepticism, the Water Authority supports the project, but only under certain conditions.

Full Story

Environment Report: Doomsday For Colorado River Approaches

/in , /by /Voice Of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Within the next two years, federal officials may be forced to declare a water shortage on the Colorado River, an unprecedented situation that would reduce the amount of water available to parts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. The thermometer of the river’s health is Lake Mead, formed behind Hoover Dam. When the lake falls below a certain level, a shortage is declared and people begin to lose access to water based on an arcane priority system. The first to receive cuts are Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.

Full Story

‘Water Tax’ Is Back

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Sara Libby and Ry Rivard

Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is working to revive a controversial plan to tax water customers across the state.

The governor and others have been pushing to add a new $1 fee to water bills to help provide safe drinking water to more than 300,000 Californians in mostly rural areas.

A new version of the tax could pop back up in the next few days. It would make the fee a “voluntary donation” by allowing customers to opt out of paying it.

Full Story

City Was Told About Smart Meter Problems Two Years Ago

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

There’s a lot the city doesn’t know about the extent of problems with its $67 million “smart” water meter program. But it did know at least two years ago that problems existed, emails released this week show – a fact that conflicts with earlier statements the city made about an April 2016 meeting between water department officials and the company that makes the smart meters. Since 2010, the city has spent roughly $7 million to buy 74,000 Hersey-brand water meters from Atlanta-based Mueller Water Products.

Full Story

Environment Report: ‘The Water Department Has Lost The Public’s Trust’

/in , /by /Voice Of San Diegoby Ry Rivard

Three audits of the city of San Diego’s water department are expected to be released in coming days. Already, though, some members of the City Council are pushing for changes at the department, including the possible removal of top officials who struggled to send out accurate water bills and withheld information from the public and the press. Councilman David Alvarez said he no longer has confidence in the department’s leadership, following an investigation by Voice of San Diego and NBC 7 Responds that showed the head of the department tried to dodge oversight.

Full Story