It’s hard to think of a California company that carries more toxic baggage than Cadiz Inc. The Los Angeles firm has been trying for more than 20 years to advance a plan to siphon water from under the Mojave Desert and pump it to users throughout Southern California.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom utilized the state’s new infrastructure streamlining bill to accelerate the building of Sites Reservoir. This is great news for all Californians, particularly farmers who provide a safe, healthy, reliable food supply. Sites Reservoir is a critical element in California’s struggle to maintain a reliable water supply in the face of climate change.
Desperation over water scarcity has produced any number of schemes to relieve the crisis. But few are as chuckle-headed as a plan to pump groundwater from beneath the Mojave Desert and transport it 200 miles to urban Southern California.
This is the Cadiz water project, which has been percolating along since the turn of the century.
Construction continues in Mission Trails Regional Park to upgrade the San Diego County Water Authority’s untreated water supply system. The estimated completion of the project has been extended from mid-2022 to late 2022 due mostly to necessary design changes. The project will improve the delivery of a safe and reliable water supply to treatment plants serving the central and southern areas of San Diego County.
Trail closures will continue Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and reopen as soon as it is safe. The Water Authority’s work in Mission Trails Work will not affect the delivery of high quality drinking water to homes. Graphic: San Diego County Water Authority
For more information about the project including an interactive map showing the closed trails, visit sdcwa.org/mission-trails-FRS. Call 877-682-9283, ext. 7004, or email with questions.
Southern California’s largest urban water district declared a drought emergency on Tuesday and called for local water suppliers to immediately cut the use of water from the State Water Project.
The resolution passed by the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California calls on people across the region to step up conservation efforts, but also focuses especially on six water agencies that rely heavily or entirely on the water-starved State Water Project.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Mission Trails FRS II water project is now more than halfway complete.
The project will upgrade the Water Authority’s untreated water system in Mission Trails Regional Park. When finished in 2022, the upgrades will provide more reliable water delivery to treatment plants that serve the central and south sections of San Diego County.
A long-planned water recycling project for the Five Cities area — Central Coast Blue — hangs in uncertainty after the City of Arroyo Grande unanimously voted on June 8th to withdraw from the project unless their demand for a shared operating agreement is met.
Central Coast Blue, spearheaded by the City of Pismo Beach, is a multi-million dollar project set to bring a reliable water source to the Five Cities area by using recycled water. But the City of Arroyo Grande is having second thoughts, after Mayor Caren Ray-Russom said their demand to have equal decision making governance over the project was ignored.
On Friday, the City of Antioch, along with local and State dignitaries, broke ground on their new and historic Brackish Water Desalination Plant. At a price of $110 million, the project was made possible with $93 million in funding from the State, and $17 million from the City of Antioch.
“Through this project, Antioch continues establishing itself as both a State and regional leader on environmental best practices,” said Lamar Thorpe, Mayor, City of Antioch. “I would like to thank Governor Newsom for California’s investment in making our Brackish Water Desalination Plant a reality. By working together, we exemplify the very best of our State and our City.”
The Santa Ana Regional Water Board released a tentative order Friday detailing proposed revisions to Poseidon Water’s controversial proposed $1.4-billion water desalination project in Huntington Beach.
In his Aug. 2 Herald commentary, Grant Leonard claimed that Cal Am’s proposed Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project would be a win-win for both Castroville, a disadvantaged community, and Carmel, which is on the other side of the economic spectrum. Some things challenge that claim.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
