Tag Archive for: Water Infrastructure

Neena Kuzmich-Director of Engineering-San Diego County Water Authority

Neena Kuzmich Named Director of Engineering

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Neena Kuzmich has been appointed director of engineering for the San Diego County Water Authority – the first woman to lead the Engineering Department since the agency’s formation in 1944. Kuzmich brings more than 25 years of experience as a civil engineer to fill the position vacated by the retirement of Gary Bousquet.

The Water Authority is a regional wholesale water agency that provides about 80% of the water used in San Diego County, sustaining a $268 billion economy and quality of life for 3.3 million residents.

Director of Engineering Neena Kuzmich

Kuzmich joined the Water Authority in 2013 and has 26 years of experience in design, construction, and project management. Prior to her appointment as director, she served as deputy director of engineering. Kuzmich is responsible for overseeing and managing the design and construction of Capital Improvement Program projects, and the implementation of the Water Authority’s energy management policy. She is currently leading efforts to advance the proposed San Vicente Energy Storage Facility.

Kuzmich has a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from Syracuse University and a master’s in business administration from University of Phoenix. She is a registered professional engineer in the State of California.

Innovation and excellence

“Gary Bousquet’s expertise and dedication made a profound impact on the San Diego region, which benefits from the projects that he helped develop and lead over the past three decades,” said Dan Denham, acting general manager of the Water Authority. “Thankfully, the Engineering Department will remain in good hands. Neena Kuzmich’s dedication to innovation and excellence will help to sustain the San Diego region for decades to come.”

The Water Authority’s Engineering Department is responsible for the design and construction of regional water facilities in the capital improvement and asset management programs; overseeing energy related projects; managing real-estate interests; patrolling and managing 168 miles of right-of-way property; and providing survey services.

San Vicente Energy Storage Facility

During his 24 years at the Water Authority, Bousquet managed design and construction of Capital Improvement Program projects including the San Vicente Tunnel, San Vicente Pump Station, and the Lake Hodges Hydroelectric Facility. For the past several years, Bousquet and Kuzmich have led the Water Authority’s efforts to develop a major renewable energy project proposed jointly with the City of San Diego. The potential San Vicente Energy Storage Facility received $18 million from the state in 2021, to advance the project through initial design, environmental reviews, and the federal licensing process.

Award-winning engineering department

The department has won several awards in recent years, including the world’s top civil engineering honor for its Emergency and Carryover Storage Project in 2017 from the American Society of Civil Engineers. More recently, the agency received four awards from the American Public Works Association and American Society of Civil Engineers for construction projects that exemplified outstanding skill, dedication, and collaboration.

Tijuana, Reliant on the Colorado River, Faces a Water Crisis

/in , , /by /AP by Suman Naishadham Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Luis Ramirez leapt onto the roof of his bright blue water truck to fill the plastic tank that by day’s end would empty into an assortment of buckets, barrels and cisterns in 100 homes.

It was barely 11 a.m. and Ramirez had many more stops to make on the hilly, grey fringes of Tijuana, a sprawling, industrial border city in northwestern Mexico where trucks or “pipas” like Ramirez’s provide the only drinking water for many people.

“Each time, it gets farther and farther where we have to go,” he said, blaming the city’s water problems on drought and population growth, before jumping into the driver’s seat next to 16-year-old assistant Daniel Alvarez.

Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis driven also by aging, inefficient infrastructure and successive governments that have done little to prepare the city for diminishing water in the region.

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IID Opens New Conservation and Operational Reservoir

/in , , /by /The Desert Review

The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors saluted the district’s completion of its newest water conservation and operational reservoir located just east of the city, which will conserve 400 acre-feet of water annually and provide water operational flexibility to growers in the valley’s Northend.

The new operational reservoir, recently dedicated by the IID Board as the Lloyd Allen Water Conservation Operational Reservoir, is the first mid-lateral canal reservoir constructed through IID’s System Conservation Program. It has a total storage capacity of 40 acre-feet and is located along the district’s E Lateral Canal — the longest in the district’s delivery system at 13 miles in length.

In addition to conserving water, the new reservoir supports the district’s On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program, providing improved water delivery service to growers.

The IID Board visited the site of the new reservoir on Friday, June 30, as part of a larger tour of water operational facilities in the Valley’s Northend.

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County Water Authority Approves 9.5% Rate Hike to Ensure ‘Reliability of Supply’

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority board approved a 9.5% increase in wholesale water rates for its member agencies in 2024, citing the need to fund critical water supply projects.

The authority’s $1.85 billion budget for the next two years includes capital projects considered “critical for maintaining safe and reliable water supplies” in the event California returns to drought.

The impact of the wholesale rate increase on residential rates will vary based on the amount of water used by each of the 24 member agencies in the county, as well as individual usage by customers.

“The board and staff have worked tirelessly for months to minimize rate increases while supporting the reliability of our water supply,” said Board Chair Mel Katz. “Despite cost increases created by extraordinary inflation and depressed water sales, we have a budget that allows the water authority to do what it does best — provide the water that sustains our economy and quality of life.”

Officials blamed the lower water sales on an exceptionally wet and cool winter following years of drought.

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Fixing, Expanding Water Treatment Plant Partly Responsible for Contamination at San Diego Beaches Could Take Years

/in , , /by /NBC7by Jeanette Quezada

It’s been more than 550 days since the ocean water at Imperial Beach has been safe for swimmers and surfers.

Between wastewater treatment plant repairs and expansions, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but city leaders say all hands on deck are needed to make progress.

 

 

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San Diego County Water Authority And its 24 Member Agencies

Water Authority Board Approves 2024 Wholesale Rates After Public Hearing

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The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors today approved wholesale water rates for 2024 following a public hearing and approved the recommended budget for the next two fiscal years. The budget and rates support continued work on numerous agency priorities, including capital projects critical for maintaining safe and reliable water supplies.

“The Board and staff have worked tirelessly for months to minimize rate increases while supporting the reliability of our water supply,” said Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz. “Despite cost increases created by extraordinary inflation and depressed water sales, we have a budget that allows the Water Authority to do what it does best – provide the water that sustains our economy and quality of life.”

The Board approved increasing wholesale water costs for its 24 retail member agencies by 9.5%. Actual rate impacts will vary by agency based on their use of the Water Authority’s system and actual water purchases. Water rates paid by residents and businesses will also vary based on factors unique to each retail agency.

Budget and rates

The budget and rates package was the most challenging in decades due to extreme inflation over the past year and depressed water sales due to cool and wet weather. Against that backdrop, the Board prioritized immediate ratepayer relief with a planned withdrawal of nearly $30 million from the Rate Stabilization Fund, which would bring the fund to its lowest level in more than a decade. The Rate Stabilization Fund was created in 1990 to help avoid rate spikes, especially those driven by reduced water sales following abnormally wet weather or mandatory cutbacks.

The Board also approved the staff recommended $1.85 billion budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, an increase of 5% from the current two-year budget due to higher costs for water, treatment and infrastructure maintenance. The budget prioritizes the following initiatives:

  • Long-term planning
  • Capital projects
  • Engaging stakeholders
  • System and asset management
  • Fiscal responsibility and cost control

Approximately 90% of the Water Authority’s recommended budget is for buying and treating and delivering water, combined with debt service and infrastructure projects to ensure water is available when and where it’s needed. As in past years, the Water Authority’s Operating Departments – including all agency staff and day-to-day work functions – account for about 7% of the budget. The approved budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 increases spending by those departments by 1%, or $1.5 million, compared to the current two-year budget.

Public water agencies do not make a profit; all revenues are invested in protecting and providing safe and reliable water.

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Water Authority Board Approves 2024 Wholesale Rates After Public Hearing

/in , /by /The Vista Press Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors today approved wholesale water rates for 2024 following a public hearing and approved the recommended budget for the next two fiscal years. The budget and rates support continued work on numerous agency priorities, including capital projects critical for maintaining safe and reliable water supplies.

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San Diego Water Rates Will Rise More Steeply Than Expected — But Single-Family Homeowners Will Get a Reprieve

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby David Garrick Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

San Diego officials say they must raise water rates more than previously announced — 19.8% instead of 17.6% — but a smaller portion of the increases would fall on typical single-family homeowners.

City water officials told the City Council Tuesday that the bump up in the proposed increases is being driven primarily by costs for imported water, which makes up 85% to 90% of the city’s supply.

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Helix Water District Wins $10.3 Million Grant From State

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union Tribuneby Laura Groch

The Helix Water District has been awarded $10.3 million in grant funds by the California Department of Water Resources for the district’s drought resilience and drinking water supply reliability project. The district was one of 26 California agencies, and the only one in San Diego County, to receive a portion of the $217 million in grants awarded in this round of funding.

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San Diego County Water Authority And its 24 Member Agencies

Water Authority Board Holds Public Hearing on 2024 Wholesale Water Rates

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June 15, 2023 – On June 22, the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors will hold a public hearing about proposed wholesale water rates for 2024, followed by votes on the rate proposal and the recommended budget for the next two fiscal years.

The Water Authority Board is seeking to manage cost increases created by extraordinary inflationary pressures and depressed water sales, while at the same time protecting ratepayers, ensuring water reliability, and maintaining the Water Authority’s strong credit ratings that reduce the life-cycle cost of infrastructure. Due to its long-term commitment to strategic financial management, the Water Authority has senior lien credit ratings of AAA from Standard & Poor’s, AA+ from Fitch ratings and Aa2 from Moody’s.

The public hearing is scheduled to start when the Administrative and Finance Committee meets at 9 a.m. June 22, at 4677 Overland Avenue in San Diego. The hearing will also be livestreamed at www.sdcwa.org/about-us/board-of-directors/meetings/. Public comments will be accepted in person; via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83333513511?pwd=SW9VU0NQaDd3aHlsMlN4ajluUkp4dz09#success with passcode 576222; or by phone at 669-444-9171 using meeting ID 833 3351 3511# and passcode *576222# as prompted.

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