GrokSurf's San Diego by George J. Janczyn is produced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Anything on this blog copied and used elsewhere online must include attribution and a link to the original on this blog, or a citation with the URL if reprinted on hard copy.
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 24, 2010
“Today, more than half of all urban water use in most western states goes to landscaping, and most of that goes to trying to maintain green turf. In places like Las Vegas, as much as 70 percent of all residential water use goes to outdoor landscaping.”
“Water Number: 3 to 5 acre-feet per acre. This is how much water in hot, dry western climates, that turf grass can suck out of our rivers, streams and groundwater aquifers to evaporate into the air…”
Posted in Water | Tagged: lawn watering | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 23, 2010
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From L.A. Creek Freak comes this great find, Poetry meets River Bike Path in Portugal. |
Posted in Arts, Land use, Water | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 21, 2010
North City Water Reclamation Plant
[Feb 24 update: The resolution was approved as part of a package of consent items during the meeting, which usually means no major objections were anticipated]
The San Diego City Council will vote on Tuesday whether to adopt a resolution approving the plans and specifications for the Carmel Valley Recycled Water Pipeline Construction Project and to authorize advertising for bids on a construction contract. Up to $4,730,000 would be approved to pay for the project (see City Council Docket Item 100).
The pipeline will consist of approximately 10,000 linear feet of 8-inch to 12-inch diameter pipeline to provide an extension to serve recycled water from the North City Water Reclamation Plant to the Meadows Del Mar Golf Course, Palacio Del Mar Home Owners Association and future customers in the western portion of Carmel Valley.
The project is to assist the City in carrying out Phase II of the 2000 Water Reclamation Master Plan which states the City will attempt to achieve the beneficial use of 50% of treated wastewater by the year 2010. That goal was related to the City’s EPA waiver from having to provide secondary treatment at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, the latest which was just renewed last October. That waiver committed San Diego to treat 45 MGD of wastewater by 2010 (note there’s a difference between ‘treated’ and ‘used’).
According to the 2005 Recycled Water Master Plan Update, the goal was to reuse at least 12 million gallons per day of water from the North City Water Reclamation Plant (the plant treats about 22.5 MGD, with the excess sent to Point Loma for disposal at sea). At the time of the 2005 update, the actual amount reused amounted to only 6 MGD. I haven’t learned what the current usage for 2010 is, but according to the 2005 Update, if implemented as described, the phased system expansions outlined in the reclamation plan would allow the City to meet the 12 MGD water reuse goal by 2010. Toward that end, the proposed pipeline project is estimated to supply approximately 300 acre feet of recycled water per year according to the city council docket (1 acre foot = 325851 gallons).
Supporting documentation for the Council agenda item: Inviting Bids for Carmel Valley Recycled Water Pipeline Construction Project (Carmel Valley Community Area. District 1.)
Posted in Environment, Land use, Water | Tagged: Carmel Valley, Meadows Del Mar Golf Course, North City Water Reclamation Plant, Palacio Del Mar Home Owners Association, Recycled water | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 21, 2010
‘Cracked teapot’ is what comes to mind when I read about the latest “movement” they say is sweeping the country.
My Sunday morning reading included a report about a group called East County Tea Party which held a rally in El Cajon on Saturday, attracting a delegation of prominent Republicans to the mix. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Republicans in attendance included El Cajon Councilman Bill Wells, Assemblyman Joel Anderson, Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, Rick Powell, candidate for the Assembly, and Rep. Duncan Hunter.
Amusingly, the U-T observed that “The crowd, including a few people wearing Colonial-style costumes and hats with dangling tea bags, listened to speakers and wandered past candidates’ booths” and then quoted Duncan Hunter saying “This is America, look around…These are just normal folks.”
On Twitter, Tony Krvaric, Chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego tweeted to his followers: “Fantastic turnout here in El Cajon at the East County TEA Party, organized by Barry Willis. Hundreds of freedom loving patriots here!”
The U-T’s printed edition headline was “Tea Party rally brings out sizable crowd” but the headline changed in the online edition to “Tea Party rally draws about 1,000.” More soberly, I think, KFMB channel 8 reported that dozens of people attended.
KFMB also noted that “a recent CNN poll showed that half of Americans don’t know what the Tea Party is all about.” That half, I suspect, includes most Tea Party members.
As for Duncan Hunter’s “these are just normal folks” comment, I’d reply that who’s really normal is the person who wrote this viewpoint in The Moderate Voice:
“I will not sit idly by while these tea party fools moan on and on about supposed attacks on their “liberty” when the real beast that threatens us is an out of control private health insurance market and not the Federal government.”
To the wandering Tea Party attendees, these Ten Lessons for Tea Baggers are highly recommended (thanks to OB Rag for the find).
Feb 23 update: a couple of other perspectives on the rally.
Posted in Politics | Tagged: Teabag party | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 18, 2010
According to a construction update I received from the San Diego County Water Authority, excavation of the foundation on the hillsides adjacent to the dam, removal of concrete from the top and the face of the dam, and other work to prepare for raising the height of the dam 117 feet is over half completed and is expected to be completed this summer. However, completion of the entire project has been pushed back from the original estimate which was late 2012. Work is now expected to be complete in mid-2014.
P.S., I’ll be taking a tour of the project in early March and will take plenty of pictures for a future report.
Here’s a copy of the update (reprinted with permission). Complete background information about the San Vicente project can be found at SDCWA’s San Vicente Project website.
Posted in Environment, Land use, Water | Tagged: San Vicente Reservoir | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 16, 2010
Test high def camera: only the smallest of hands will be able to finger the controls easily (holding it with one hand, my fingers and thumb almost completely encircle it)
Today I went to the Ocean Beach north jetty to test an HD camcorder (Sony HDR-XR150, built-in hard drive with 25x optical zoom) by filming some surfing action. My own camcorder (Sony DCR-TRV103, Hi-8 cassette tape with 20x optical zoom) doesn’t do badly for standard definition–that’s what I’ve been using for all the surfing videos I’ve posted here–but I wanted to see what can be done with a high def camera.
Alas, the test camcorder’s LCD display completely washed out in the sunlight, making it extremely difficult to follow the action. Since the camera has no optical viewfinder I had to jerry-rig a cardboard hood in order to see the LCD images at all. The resulting video looks very shaky, partly because I could hardly see what I was shooting, but despite built-in image stabilization and being on a tripod, this camera just didn’t perform to my expectations when it came to shooting action, especially at a distance.
My standard definition dinosaur--my hand can grasp about half of it
My experience reinforces my earlier opinion that a camcorder without an optical viewfinder is of no use for serious photography. I don’t know why manufacturers insist on omitting this critical component; I can only surmise they haven’t tried shooting action in bright sunlight themselves. Either that, or they just don’t care. Another thing most HD camcorders seem to lack is adequate optical zoom–this test model was unusual with 25x, but most consumer HD camcorders offer only 10x optical. Strangely, many standard definition camcorders have well over 25x optical. In any case, I don’t think the camera is worth the $700 asking price. As for other makes and models, I’ve looked all over without luck for an HD camcorder with an optical viewfinder and at least 25x optical zoom. If you know of one, please let me know where you found it!
Otherwise, it was a nice day at OB…the waves just kept coming, one after the other. Combined with the long paddle to get out, it made for a good workout (a fun one, though) for everyone.
Here’s video shot with the high-def camera. Although wide-angle shots with slow panning came out okay, the action sequences reveal the camera’s weakness. Keep in mind I was using a tripod here:
March 17: For comparison, here’s video I shot with my old camcorder. Its zoom isn’t as powerful and it isn’t high def, but the overall quality is much more satisfying to me.
Posted in Surfing, Technology, Videos | Tagged: Camcorders, Ocean Beach | 1 Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 14, 2010
While the decision to invalidate the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) simmers, an editorial in the Imperial Valley Press Online serves as a good reminder that even in San Diego (!) there are those who view California water resources selfishly and cynically (the QSA contains an agreement for water transfers from Imperial Valley to San Diego). The editorial observes:
…the North County Times in San Diego County recently wrote an editorial that was stunning in its lack of understanding of the dangers of a dried-up Salton Sea and its lack of interest in any region — or its people — other than its own. Of the judge’s ruling and a possible appeal, the paper said:
“Since we believe a higher and better use is to move the water conservation in the Valley (the essence of the deal) to the thirsty parts of San Diego County, we hope the appeal succeeds, the judge is overturned and the Salton Sea is ultimately left to dry up.”
I think San Diegans should be more appreciative that the people of Imperial Valley have made sacrifices to send much-needed water our way. At best, the North County Times editorial was thoughtless. If our attitude is ‘let them breathe dust’ they might as well have the stance ‘let them drink seawater!’ (the Poseidon plant notwithstanding).
Click here to read the entire opinion from Imperial Valley Press
Click here to read the offending North County Times opinion. To their credit, they printed a rebuttal to their editorial.
Feb 15: Interesting timing–the KPBS “These Days” program will discuss the QSA today, apparently from the same angle that I used here. They wrote “Not only has the story been under-reported … but calls to let the Salton Sea dry up are really provoking anger. An audio recording of the broadcast will be posted on their website.
Mar 17: S.D. is not against I.V. / editorial by Tom Wornham, Chairman, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Secretary, Board of Directors, San Diego County Water Authority, published in the Imperial Valley Press.
Posted in Environment, Land use, Politics, Water | Tagged: Imperial Irrigation District, Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), Salton Sea, Water transfers | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 14, 2010
Okay, so it’s Valentine’s Day and the Olympics are on, but there’s a decent W-NW swell going off at Big Rock, and priorities are priorities.
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Posted in Surfing, Videos | Tagged: Big Rock, La Jolla | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 13, 2010
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I think the 2010 Olympics luge has a design flaw. See this roadway guardrail? What if they put in the posts and left off the rail? Cars would be seriously damaged and people seriously injured or killed instead of being safely deflected. Likewise, the luge should have had a wall over those posts. Instead, there’s a wall in the curve but it drops away coming out of the curve, a feature which seems only to account for the convenience of photographers and/or spectators. |
| [Update–Good news: they decided to extend the wall–see the New York Times report Changes Made to Luge Competition. I’m very glad about this, because the thought of further runs on the defective track was frightening! |
Posted in Sports | Tagged: Luge, Olympics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 12, 2010
In 2007 Mayor Sanders vetoed the city council’s plan to conduct a feasibility study for indirect potable reuse (advanced purification of wastewater to potable standards). The city council overrode his veto, however, and project planning went forward. That project is now entering its Phase 2 stage.
Meanwhile in 2010, during an interview with the Voice of San Diego on Feb. 9, the mayor said he now supports the project. The San Diego County Taxpayer’s Association (SDCTA) posted this reaction:
I’m going to reserve judgement about the mayor. When he vetoed the project, the mayor was quoted as objecting for economic reasons. Now, project funding seems to be fairly secure, despite the city’s desperate financial situation, but additional funding will still be needed. As we can see, though, the mayor wasn’t exactly planning to formally promote the project here, he was simply being interviewed on a variety of topics, this happened to come up, and he made a diplomatic reply. So I’m not sure there’s great significance in his remark, at least not yet.
[note: Lani Lutar, president of SDCTA, informed me she contacted the mayor's office to verify a shift in his position prior to issuing their congratulatory letter]
As for the project, I strongly hope it will prove the possibility of making recycled water a significant portion of potable, not just irrigation, water for San Diego. If you haven’t seen it, please do look at my earlier essay Water reuse is imperative for a sustainable San Diego.
Posted in Environment, Politics, Water | Tagged: Purified recycled water, Wastewater, Water reuse--San Diego | Leave a Comment »
