A water district best known for supplying the celebrity-studded enclaves of Calabasas and Hidden Hills could soon become famous for a very different reason.
The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District recently partnered with California-based OceanWell to study the feasibility of harvesting drinking water from desalination pods placed on the ocean floor, several miles off the coast of California.
A bill requiring a countywide vote before individual water districts can detach from an agency passed the Assembly on Tuesday, but it won’t prevent residents of Fallbrook and Rainbow from voting on Nov. 7.
Due to the persistence of California’s unprecedented megadrought, capturing rainfall when it occurs is a conservation priority. Several water districts in North San Diego County are offering discounted rain barrels.
Water districts get among the least attention among local governments – yet they control the safety of tap water, the prices, maintain water delivery infrastructure and influence conservation efforts.
So just where do the current candidates stand on issues like the drought, climate change, transparency and term limits?
The Voice of OC newsroom set to find out.
Bay Area water agencies have saved nearly 10 times more water than the state average in the past year.
Collectively, 58 Bay Area water districts saved an average of more than 10% in July 2021 compared with the same time last year, according to new statistics from the State Water Resources Control Board.
A settlement between the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District is delivering a windfall of refunds to local water districts.
The SDCWA filed suits between 2010 and 2018 challenging how Los Angeles-based MWD set rates and imposed charges. SDCWA won several “critical issues” from 2011-14 and was awarded $44.3 million by a state court in January to refund rates and repay overcharges, according to a press release.
SDCWA is also entitled to attorney’s fees and costs for those cases, although the exact amount is to be determined.
The money has been reallocated to its member agencies, with most securing more than $1 million in refunded money.
Panelists from several water districts will give updates on new laws affecting water consumption in California during an American Liberty Forum of Ramona event set for Saturday, June 27.
The free forum on Water Regulations Today and Tomorrow will be held at Ramona Mainstage, 626 Main St. Doors open at 11 a.m. and a video program starts at 11:30 a.m.
The focus will be on Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668.
SB 606 is in response to mandates that California achieve a 20 percent reduction in urban per capita water use by Dec. 31, 2020. Existing law requires each urban retail water supplier to develop urban water use targets and an interim urban water use target.
AB 1668 would require the state Water Resources Control Board to adopt long-term standards for the efficient use of water and would establish specified standards for per capita daily indoor residential water use.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
