Californians have grown used to the idea that water is a precious commodity, one that we risk running out of without conservation.
A new report by the Pacific Institute suggests Californians have learned to conserve so well that water forecasters need to rethink their approach to estimating future water demand.
Oceanside Mayor Peter Weiss is among mayors across the country who are urging their communities to use water wisely and join Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation.
Each year, the Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation hosts the My Water Pledge, a friendly competition between cities across the U.S. to see who can be the most “water-wise.”
Vista Irrigation District has presented awards to three artistic fourth-grade students as winners of the District’s 2020 Water Awareness Poster Contest. The District’s board of directors selected the recipients at its July 15 meeting. This is the 28th year of the local contest. This year’s theme was “Love Water, Save Water.”
Karmen Isabel Simons, a fourth-grade student from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Vista, received first-place honors for her entry in the competition. She received a $100 award
Vista Irrigation District has presented awards to three artistic fourth-grade students as winners of the District’s 2020 Water Awareness Poster Contest. The District’s board of directors selected the recipients at its July 15 meeting. This is the 28th year of the local contest. This year’s theme was “Love Water, Save Water.”
Karmen Isabel Simons, a fourth-grade student from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Vista, received first-place honors for her entry in the competition. She received a $100 award.
Karmen Isabel Simons, a fourth-grade student from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Vista, received first-place honors from the District for her entry in the competition. She received a $100 award. Photo: Vista Irrigation District
Naiya Langley from Alamosa Park Elementary School in Oceanside and received a second-place award of $50.
Naiya Langley from Alamosa Park Elementary School in Oceanside received a second-place award of $50. Photo: Vista Irrigation District
Angelica Zetina from Mission Meadows Elementary School in Oceanside received a third-place award of $25.
Angelica Zetina from Mission Meadows Elementary School in Oceanside received a third place award of $25 for her contest entry. Photo: Vista Irrigation District
The poster contest is open to all fourth-grade students in public and private schools within the District’s service areas in the city of Vista, and portions of San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside, and unincorporated areas of San Diego County. Its goal is to promote understanding of water issues in elementary schools.
“Each year I continue to be amazed at the quality of the artwork produced by the students entering the contest,” said Brent Reyes, Vista Irrigation District water conservation specialist. “Each year it seems the Water Awareness Calendar created using the students’ artwork gets better and better.”
The three winning posters were selected from 110 entries based upon their depiction of the theme, artwork, originality, and poster design. Simons’ poster will appear in the 2021 Water Awareness Calendar. The calendar will be available free of charge at the District’s office in November 2020.
Two major water projects in San Diego County this week received a major financial boost to enhance the region’s water supply. The East County Advanced Water Purification Project was approved for up to $91.8 million and a project in the City of Escondido was approved for up to $23.4 million.
The San Diego County Water Authority has helped secure nearly $470 million for local supply projects in the past several months in collaboration with member agencies, including the total of $115 million for the East County and City of Escondido projects. Both projects will increase local water supply reliability and reduce future demands on imported water supplies.
On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Board of Directors approved entering into funding agreements from its Local Resources Program for both projects. The Water Authority and its member agencies are able to participate in the Local Resources Program after a final court ruling found MWD had illegally barred the Water Authority from receiving money from MWD’s local water supply program, even though the Water Authority was forced to pay for it.
“Kudos to our member agencies for their strong applications and to MWD’s Board of Directors for approving them,” said Water Authority Board Chair Jim Madaffer. “It is an affirmation of our ongoing efforts to collaborate with MWD and to address shared challenges.”
The East County AWP will be one of the first potable reuse projects in California to use new reservoir augmentation regulations. The program will meet up to 30% of East County’s drinking water demands, almost 13,000 acre-feet of water per year, and eliminate the discharge of 15 million gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
The AWP uses four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near-distilled in quality. After treatment, purified water will be blended with water in Lake Jennings and treated again at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant before being distributed as drinking water.
This program is a collaborative partnership between Padre Dam Municipal Water District, the County of San Diego, the City of El Cajon and Helix Water District.
The Membrane Filtration Reverse Osmosis Facility in Escondido would provide up to 3,280 acre-feet per year of advanced treated recycled water to irrigate farms.
The project includes the construction of an advanced recycled water treatment facility with microfiltration and reverse osmosis, new pipelines, and a storage and blending tank to convey water for agricultural irrigation. Source water for the project is treated recycled water from the Hale Avenue Resource Recovery Facility. Escondido will own and operate the project and plans to deliver water by 2023.
In the past several months, the Water Authority has helped member agencies secure three other Local Resources Program agreements to fund water supply projects that increase local supply and reduce reliance on imported water. Those projects are:
I’m pleased to share some good news for our region. You will recall the Water Authority was recently awarded $15 million in state grants for several water supply projects throughout the county. Earlier this week, we also secured approval of more than $115 million for local water supply projects in San Diego County through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. That brings the total to nearly $500 million since we successfully challenged in court MWD’s imposition of an illegal contract clause barring our region’s participation in MWD’s funding program. Unlike state grants, MWD’s program is funded by its member agencies, including the Water Authority, in the water rates and charges we pay to MWD.
Kudos to our member agencies for their strong applications and to MWD’s Board of Directors for approving them. It is an affirmation of our ongoing efforts to collaborate with MWD and to address shared challenges.
Local water projects, along with the Water Authority regional supplies, are key components of our region’s long-term supply reliability strategy. A few months ago, we worked with Fallbrook Public Utility District, the City of San Diego and the City of Oceanside to secure MWD program funding for their projects.
The two most recent successes are:
Now that San Diego County agencies can compete for – and win – Local Resources Program funding, the Water Authority is taking actions in court to voluntarily dismiss certain related legal claims against MWD. We hope to soon have prompt resolution of our remaining litigation issues, and to work with the other MWD member agencies to create a strategic plan, a financing plan and a rate structure that are fair to ratepayers across Southern California.
Helix Water District recently completed a new demonstration landscape outside of its administration building in La Mesa. The project is intended to inspire and educate the surrounding communities to install WaterSmart landscaping, and it serves as an example that residents can use to help design their own landscaping.
The city received $4.565 million in state grant funding to expand its water reuse efforts, with most of the funds going toward its Pure Water Oceanside Project.
The city received the money from the Department of Water Resources through the state’s Integrated Regional Water Management Program. The program supports water reuse programs like Oceanside’s to increase the state’s water sustainability.
Helix Water District recently completed a new demonstration landscape outside of its administration building in La Mesa. The project is intended to inspire and educate the surrounding communities to install WaterSmart landscaping, and it serves as an example that residents can use to help design their own landscaping.
The demonstration landscape includes three unique WaterSmart gardens on the streets around the building, including a Mediterranean garden on University Avenue, a desert landscape on Lee Avenue and a California native landscape along the building’s main entrance on Quince Street. The three gardens exemplify different types of plants that thrive in the climate of San Diego County and only need half to one-fifth of the water that a traditional lawn needs.
“Our new demonstration landscape shows customers that water-efficient landscaping is not just one style,” said Helix Water District Board President Mark Gracyk. “You can choose plants that compliment your home and personal taste – there is an option for everyone.”
The native plants in the demonstration garden show that WaterSmart landscaping not only saves water and maintenance costs but can be beautiful too. Photo: Helix Water District
Each garden is full of a variety of flowers of different colors and textures. Plant markers are placed to identify each plant and QR codes provide easy access to plant names, sun and water needs, mature size and photos when scanned through the camera of a smartphone.
The water district also created an interactive webpage https://hwd.com/demonstration-landscape where customers can make a list of their favorite plants and download design plans. Information on water-efficient irrigation and rebate programs is also available.
The garden includes interactive elements such as descriptive signs with QR codes that visitors can scan to learn more about specific plants. Photo: Helix Water District
“We’ve made it easy for customers to learn about WaterSmart plants and landscaping,” said Gracyk.
In addition to requiring less water, WaterSmart landscapes also require less maintenance and provide habitat for local wildlife and pollinators such as honeybees, birds and butterflies.
“Outdoor water use typically accounts for half of a home’s total water use,” said Helix Water District Board Vice President DeAna Verbeke. “With our new demonstration garden, we’re encouraging people to upgrade to a WaterSmart landscape by showing them that water-wise plants are not only sustainable but beautiful as well.”
The project was partially funded through a grant from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Helix Water District provides water treatment and distribution for 277,000 people in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove, the community of Spring Valley and areas of Lakeside – east of downtown San Diego. Helix is also a founding member of The Water Conservation Garden, a nearly six-acre water-wise demonstration garden in El Cajon.
