San Diego regional water news roundup Feb 11-17, 2013
Posted by George J Janczyn on February 18, 2013
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Green roof, storm water combo serves California university dormatory / Sustainable Business.com : “The green roof on a LEED-Platinum University of California dormitory in San Diego is the first of its kind for the state’s university system and one of just a few commercial installations in the entire state.” |
Santee takes water savings to the streets / U-T San Diego : “Santee will be the first city in San Diego County to use partially treated or reclaimed water rather than drinking water for street sweeping. Switching to reclaimed water will save the city some money and will save 60,000 gallons of potable water a year.” |
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Luncheon program: regional stormwater permit / American Planning Association, San Diego Chapter : “A new Regional Stormwater NPDES Permit (Regional MS4 Permit) is being developed by the San Diego Water Board for municipal Co-permittees in San Diego County. Come hear Christine Sloan and Jo Ann Weber of the County of San Diego and Scott Taylor of RBF Consulting speak on the potential impacts to development, anticipated changes to water quality monitoring, and new initiatives that will occur in the San Diego region as a result of the Regional MS4 Permit [February 22, 2013].” |
Desalination seen booming at 15% a year as water dries up / Bloomberg : “Desalination isn’t a panacea — it’s expensive and harmful to marine life — but governments desperate for supplies are ramping up construction of plants. San Diego, confronting a water crunch as supplies from Northern California and the Colorado River dwindle, approved a $922 million coastal desalination plant to provide 7 percent of the city’s drinking water last year after almost a decade of legal challenges and debates.” |
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Farm community discusses impact of water apportionment on business / Imperial Valley Press : “Two years of water over-consumption as well as water transfer obligations will finally, directly impact the Imperial Valley group that relies on water the most, the agricultural community.” |
2 pipes burst, flood neighborhood streets / NBC 7 San Diego : “Dozens of residents were without water service Friday after two water main breaks occurred within hours of each other.” | |
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Water Authority saves $51 million with bond refunding / San Diego County Water Authority : ” The San Diego County Water Authority on Wednesday priced a $299 million bond sale that will reduce the cost of financing vital water supply reliability projects over the next two decades. When completed, the sale of Senior Lien Water Revenue Refunding Bonds Series 2013A will refund $299 million in long-term, fixed-rate bonds from the agency’s 2004A series.” |
San Diego County avocado industry disappearing / 10News : “Avocados, one of San Diego County’s top crops, are disappearing, and 10News has confirmed avocado trees are being ripped out at an increasing rate and replaced with other crops. In the past year and a half, he said two water hikes — a 30 percent jump, followed by a 10 percent hike — have made the avocado crop too costly.” |
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Farmers won’t see cut to water rates / U-T San Diego : “Escondido farmers won’t get the 44 percent water rate cut they wanted, but their rates will remain flat while the city’s merchants and residential customers face sharp increases March 1. Seeking to help Escondido’s agriculture industry survive, City Council members voted Wednesday to shield farmers from 12 to 14 percent rate hikes the council approved for the city’s 26,000 other water customers.” |
Water main break causes problems in Point Loma / NBC7 San Diego : “A major water main break in Point Loma caused problems for residents and drivers Sunday. Arial Collins, who’s with the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department…said the main break was one of their biggest in recent memory.” |
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Seawater desalination plant might be just a drop in the bucket / Los Angeles Times : “The road to construction has been so long and twisting that Global Water Intelligence, which covers the international water industry, last year listed the project among the “Top 10 Desalination Disasters” of all time.” |
Zanjeros: the men behind IID’s water system / Imperial Valley Press : “The IID delivers more than 3.1 million acre-feet of water every year over 1,600 miles of canals, and relies on just 125 zanjeros to keep the system running smoothly. Most of the gates are hand-operated. Water from the IID’s canals is used to irrigate thousands of acres of crops, and the way zanjeros make it flow has changed little during the past 100 years.” |
GrokSurf's San Diego 
merle Moshiri said
It would appear that more than simply a few of us casual observers think SDCWA has been sold a bill of goods via Carlsbad and Poseidon Resources. You will rue the day you became mixed up with this bunch. But……by then it will be too late. We can only give our best effort now to saving Orange County from the clutches of the ravenous group of water profiteers.