San Diego regional water news roundup May 1-7, 2012
Posted by George J Janczyn on May 8, 2012
A selected roundup of news related to San Diego regional water issues. Click headlines for the full story at originating website.
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Local water agency wades into water war / sgvtribune.com : “One of the San Gabriel Valley’s biggest wholesale water districts has jumped into a water war being waged by San Diego County against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Three Valleys Municipal Water District has joined the legal action on the side of Metropolitan, accusing plaintiff San Diego County Water Authority of bungling a side water purchase from Imperial County and trying to make MWD’s 26 water agencies pay for the blunder.” |
Report on SD water rates is flashpoint / KPBS : “A report issued this week, “The Cost of Water in San Diego: The IID Transfer And SDCWA Water Rates,” makes for riveting reading for water historians and employees of water districts. It’s pretty interesting for consumers, too. [includes video of an interview with UCSD’s Steve Erie, co-author of the report, from the KPBS program Evening Edition]” |
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In successful test, microsubmarines help clean up oil spills / POPSCI (Popular Science) : “Joseph Wang at the University of California−San Diego and colleagues in Spain note that small tubular micro-machines have already proven useful in biology, with their ability to work as receptors or drug delivery systems. But they’re the first team to test them as environmental helpers. Tiny, self-propelled microsubmarines could pick up and tote droplets of oil away from contaminated waters…. The cone-shaped objects are extremely water-repellent, improving their oil-grabbing capabilities, and could serve as simple helpers in oil spills.” |
District considers projects to better handle emergencies / Ramona Sentinel : “Ramona Municipal Water District (RMWD) is researching options to better handle emergencies that would affect its water customers. A call response system and an additional power source for the district’s pump station in Poway were discussed at the board’s April 24 meeting.” |
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Colorado River activism grows / La Prensa San Diego : ““We need to focus on collaboration and compromise,” said Gary Wockner of the Save the Colorado River campaign. “The U.S. and Mexico have a historic opportunity to meet their own water needs while allotting a small flow back to the river.” Groups signing on to the Colorado River Delta letter included the Sierra Club, Save the Colorado, Sonoran Institute, San Diego Coastkeeper and Defenders of Wildlife, among others.” |
San Diego’s water pipeline proposal a pipedream to some Imperial Valley locals / Imperial Valley Press : “The San Diego County Water Authority board has reinvigorated the idea of having a pipeline to transfer water from the Imperial Valley to San Diego. While the idea is not new — it initially was studied between 1996 and 2002 — it is being brought back as the authority looks into its regional water planning.” |
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Water board backers protest proposal / U-T San Diego : “Efforts to save money and improve efficiency in Sacramento threaten to diminish water pollution enforcement in San Diego, according to environmental groups and others. They are lobbying the state Legislature to preserve the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, which has pushed for major pollution cleanups in San Diego Bay, the Tijuana River Valley and elsewhere.” |
ESCONDIDO: Some blame water fluoridation for March chemical spill / North County Times : “A Palomar College professor and some local residents say Escondido’s tap-water fluoridation program might be to blame for a March 26 chemical spill that could cost the city more than $2 million. But Utilities Director Chris McKinney said this week that the spill and resulting damage would have occurred with or without water fluoridation.” |
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The Bay’s overlooked pollution problem / Voice of San Diego : “The traces of debris are one of many pollution problems facing the bay, which for decades served as a dumping ground for toxic chemicals and raw sewage.” |
San Diego wheels, deals and sues for water / Cal Watchdog : “San Diego’s recent transfer of excess agricultural water from Imperial County has been the only major addition to urban water sources for Southern California for decades. The transfer is the largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer in U.S. history. And it originated in the lining of irrigation canals by the San Diego County Water Authority. This resulted in bringing enough previously wasted farm water to serve 1.2 million people in the San Diego area. But a partially market-driven water system, as recently proposed by economist Art Laffer, might offer a better solution to California’s dysfunctional water system.” |
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Fears of gene pollution emerge in TJ River / U-T San Diego : “In the sewage-laced sediment of the Tijuana River Valley, Cummings and his students have uncovered an array of genes that help their bacteria hosts survive shots of penicillin, quinolines and other fundamental infection-fighting antibiotics. Over time, he fears the DNA could worm its way into bacteria that infect humans and undermine some of the world’s most widely prescribed medicines.” |
Otay Water District appoints Mitch Thompson to Board Of Directors / La Mesa-Mount Helix Patch : “Director Thompson will represent Division 2, which encompasses Otay Mesa, as well as the Sunbow, Rancho Del Rey and Otay communities of the city of Chula Vista, for the remaining eight months of the seat’s term.” |
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Blocked manhole causes sewage spill / U-T San Diego : “Concrete pieces stuffed in a manhole in a vacant field near Grand Avenue and Linda Vista Drive caused a sewage spill today in San Marcos, the Vallecitos Water District said. An estimated 3,450 gallons of wastewater spilled into a storm channel tributary to San Marcos Creek.” |
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