San Diego water customers are facing a 5.5% rate hike on May 1 that’s expected to be the first of several large increases during the next few years that could cumulatively raise rates by 70%.
The Trump administration has ordered firings and buyouts at the federal agency that operates water infrastructure in California, potentially jeopardizing the agency’s ability to manage dams and deliver water, according to Central Valley water officials.
In these turbulent times, nearly every issue gets filtered through a political lens, where real solutions are often sidelined in favor of scoring political points. When it comes to managing our state’s water supplies, this dynamic is unfortunately all too common.
We do, however, have essential truths: Water is essential to life, and how we manage this resource is one of the most crucial responsibilities we bear, so we must get this right.
Utah appears to be the first state ready to put a full ban on fluoride in public water systems under a bill that doesn’t allow cities or communities to decide whether to add the cavity-preventing mineral.
President Donald Trump’s recent order to release water from reservoirs into California’s Central Valley had no direct impact on San Diego. But the new administration will be overseeing negotiations that will determine the future of a main source of the county’s water: the Colorado River.
It’s anybody’s guess whether Trump’s unpredictable nature and penchant for unorthodox power moves — as he just exhibited — will be a factor.
Plastic straws, high flow toilets and incandescent light bulbs could make comebacks as President Donald Trump works to end certain environmental standards.
I fear we have entered a new, dangerous era under President Donald Trump’s second term. In recent days, we have witnessed water management decisions being made in Washington without the benefit of input from local experts and those being impacted.
Sweetwater Authority, which supplies drinking water to roughly 200,000 customers in Chula Vista and surrounding communities, learned last month that its main reservoir contains levels of a toxic industrial chemical that could require expensive treatment or necessitate decommissioning the reservoir entirely.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday moved to revert to older standards for light bulbs as well as toilets, showers and other water-using appliances, a day after signing an order promoting plastic straws and rescinding a plan to reduce single-use plastics.
The Trump administration’s efforts to block federal spending are disrupting one of the most critical — and typically bipartisan — functions of government: providing clean, safe and affordable water.
