Four states in the drought-wracked West considering whether to pay farmers to cut their water use see federal infrastructure legislation as a possible revenue source.
The $550 billion bipartisan legislation approved in the Senate includes $25 million for the four states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
“There’s that bucket, and a lot of other buckets, in the federal infrastructure bill that could come into play for drought contingency planning implementation,” said Amy Ostdiek, interstate and federal manager in the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Chelsea Camposhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngChelsea Campos2021-10-22 10:20:552021-10-22 10:20:55Infrastructure Bill Seen as Way to Pay Farmers to Cut Water Use
The El Camino Real Potable Water Pipeline Replacement and Green Bike Lane Striping Project has reached its final stage. After the Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board approved filing of a notice of completion for the pipeline portion of the project, the City of Encinitas will finish restoring the street and complete new bike lane striping. The original pipelines were installed in 1961 and 1974 and fast approaching the end of their lifespan.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngMike Lee2021-10-21 10:04:292021-10-21 10:07:17Joint Project by Olivenhain MWD and City of Encinitas Reaches Final Phase
The El Camino Real Potable Water Pipeline Replacement and Green Bike Lane Striping Project has reached its final stage. After the Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board approved filing of a notice of completion for the pipeline portion of the project, the City of Encinitas will finish restoring the street and complete new bike lane striping.
The original pipelines were installed in 1961 and 1974 and fast approaching the end of their lifespan. OMWD replaced approximately 4,700 linear feet of existing 12-inch diameter potable water pipeline along North El Camino Real from Encinitas Boulevard to Garden View Road, and approximately 650 linear feet of existing 12-inch diameter pipeline between Via Molena and Mountain Vista Drive. Water service lines and fire hydrant laterals served by the existing pipelines were also replaced.
The pipeline replacement will reduce water loss and prevent emergency shutdowns due to leaks. This is vitally important for water conservation and to ensure water supply reliability for businesses and residents, more important than ever due to drought conditions in the region.
“Proactive maintenance is a big part of what we do,” said Olivenhain Municipal Water District Board President Larry Watt. “Replacing aging infrastructure before it breaks helps to avoid emergencies, which are more costly and more impactful to customers.”
Coordination minimizes community inconvenience
Lowering a section of the new potable water pipe into a trench in El Camino Real. Night work helped minimize the inconvenience to nearby businesses and homes. Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District
To mitigate the impact to the surrounding community, OMWD coordinated with the City of Encinitas on its green bike lane project along the same route. The District implemented the lane restriping portion of the project on behalf of the City of Encinitas concurrently with the pipeline replacement project as an efficiency measure.
As a result, the two agencies combined what would normally be two separate, unrelated infrastructure improvement projects into a single effort to improve operational efficiency and reduce the temporary inconvenience of disruptions to area residents and businesses.
The bike lane will provide traffic calming measures, including improvements to safety and mobility for bicyclists along North El Camino Real from Encinitas Boulevard to Leucadia Boulevard by restriping and narrowing travel lanes. In addition, green-colored striping will augment some areas on the bike lanes and new signage and pavement markings will be installed.
“It was very important to us from the outset of the project to mitigate its impacts to the community, while also keeping costs down,” said Watt. “To that end, the partnership with the City of Encinitas was critical. They coordinated closely with us every step of the way.”
At the start of the project, the City of Encinitas requested that work be done at night to further reduce traffic impacts. Capitalizing on the reduced traffic as a result of the statewide stay-at-home order, OMWD was able to shift construction to the daytime for a portion of the project. Working during the day is more efficient and safer than night work, and minimized noise impacts to the surrounding neighbors. However, as traffic returned to normal levels, the City shifted work hours back to overnight.
New bike lanes due by December
Dedicated green bike lanes such as this example have an expected December completion date. Photo: Courtesy City of Encinitas
The final work effort will include buffered bike lanes on the east and west, and fully restoring three lanes of traffic. Work is anticipated to occur through early December. Traffic controls will be in place during the day and at night with the most significant work occurring at night. Residents and businesses should anticipate lane closures and consider alternative transportation routes.
(Editor’s note: The Olivenhain Municipal Water District is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/El-Camino-Real-Finish_5336-.845X450.jpg450845Gayle Falkenthalhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngGayle Falkenthal2021-10-20 18:05:352021-10-20 18:05:35Joint Project By Olivenhain MWD and City of Encinitas Reaches Final Phase
The Family Farm Alliance aims to protect water for Western agriculture and describes itself as a powerful advocate before the government for family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and allied industries in 17 Western states. The drought-stricken Klamath Basin is one area that they’ve identified as needing legislative change.
The alliance says it has this goal to ensure the availability of reliable and affordable irrigation water needed to produce the world’s food, fiber, and fuel.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Chelsea Camposhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngChelsea Campos2021-10-20 10:36:352021-10-20 11:07:49Farmers Propose Solutions to Drought Conditions in the Western United States
In many parts of California, reminders abound that the American West is running out of water. “Bathtub rings” mark the shrinking of the state’s biggest reservoirs to some of their lowest recorded levels. Fields lie fallow, as farmers grapple with an uncertain future. A bed-and-breakfast owner spends $5 whenever a tourist showers. But not in San Diego County. In this coastal desert metropolis, life has stayed mostly the same for residents already accustomed to conserving what they have long treated as a precious resource.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngMike Lee2021-10-18 10:26:142021-10-18 10:59:04Despite a Punishing Drought, San Diego Has Water. It Wasn’t Easy
A coalition of federal agencies on Thursday warned that hackers are targeting the water and wastewater treatment sectors, strongly recommending that organizations take steps to protect themselves.
In a joint advisory, the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) warned of “ongoing malicious cyber activity—by both known and unknown actors—targeting the information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) networks, systems, and devices of U.S. Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS) Sector facilities.”
“This activity — which includes attempts to compromise system integrity via unauthorized access — threatens the ability of WWS facilities to provide clean, potable water to, and effectively manage the wastewater of, their communities,” the agencies wrote in the advisory.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngMike Lee2021-10-14 16:01:342021-10-15 08:09:07Agencies Warn of Cyber Threats to Water, Wastewater Systems
Encinitas, Calif. — Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors unanimously approved today the filing of a notice of completion for the El Camino Real Potable Water Pipeline Replacement and Green Bike Lane Striping Project. After over a year of collaboration with the City of Encinitas, OMWD has officially turned the project over to the city. The city will now begin the repaving and bike lane striping portion of the project.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Olivenhain-Logo-Square.jpg200200Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngMike Lee2021-10-14 06:51:092021-10-14 06:51:09OMWD Wraps Up Year-Long Construction Project Along El Camino Real
Experts in government, agriculture, water management and the environment stressed during a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday the danger that droughts fueled by climate change pose in the West, including the Colorado River Basin.
During a hearing before an Energy and Natural Resources Committee panel, witnesses said long-term solutions and an investment in water infrastructure are needed to combat the effects of climate change.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Kristiene Gonghttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngKristiene Gong2021-10-08 09:40:332021-10-08 09:41:33Colorado River Drought Conditions Spur Calls for Better Water Infrastructure
Aaron Fukuda admits that the 15-acre sunken field behind his office doesn’t look like much.
It’s basically a big, wide hole in the ground behind the headquarters of the Tulare Irrigation District, in the southern part of California’s fertile Central Valley. But “for a water resources nerd like myself, it’s a sexy, sexy piece of infrastructure,” says Fukuda, the district’s general manager.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.png00Chelsea Camposhttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/water-news-network.pngChelsea Campos2021-10-06 11:06:542021-10-06 11:17:30Water Is Scarce in California. But Farmers Have Found Ways to Store It Underground
Congress approved a government funding bill last week that threw $80 million at the Sites Reservoir in California in order to keep the project on track.
The project is meant to hold 1.5 million acre-feet of water for the state to be used during droughts for agriculture, community usage and environmental need, said a press release issued Tuesday by the organization behind the Sites Reservoir.
