San Diego regional water news roundup May 6-12, 2013
Posted by George J Janczyn on May 13, 2013
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Sweeping new rules on stormwater runoff / U-T San Diego : “In a bid to clean up San Diego County’s waterways and beaches, regional regulators on Wednesday approved sweeping new standards for stormwater runoff that give local governments greater choice on how to combat pollution but also makes them more accountable for achieving improvements.” |
Wastewater recycling: how open minds save closed systems / New Mexico Mercury : “Singapore, Los Angeles, Windhoek (the capital of Namibia in Africa) and the tiny town of Cloudcroft, New Mexico are doing it. Astronauts do it – NASA considers it a high priority – and doing it in the desert can help to diminish the environmental impact of any town whose water needs surpass the sustainable local supply. Today, San Diego is working through the second phase…” |
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NASA project provides critical tool for water management / Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association : “A NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Twin Otter is flying high above the mountain watersheds of California and Colorado, measuring snowpack that will account for 75 percent of the drinking water supply in those regions once it melts.” |
Crews work to repair broken water main in North Park neighborhood / 10News : “A ruptured water main flooded a North Park neighborhood late Monday afternoon, leaving dozens of residences without functional plumbing into the evening hours.” |
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Will cities ever get smart about water use? / Grist : “If the definition of insanity is making the same mistakes over and over, then many cities have taken a certifiable approach to securing their water supplies…That’s the conclusion from a new study in the journal Water Policy, whose authors compared the water supply histories of four cities — San Diego, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Adelaide, Australia.” |
Water rates likely to rise / San Diego Source : “Despite continuing conservation efforts, San Diegans should prepare for another increase in water rates in the coming year, the City Council was told on Tuesday…much of the price of water is tied to the fixed cost of maintaining the system, which is a constant concern no matter how much people conserve.” |
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Water district pays depite hazy bills / U-T San Diego : “A consultant who has been paid more than $300,000 by the Otay Water District has turned in the same handwritten invoice month after month with no new details about his activities, despite a contract requiring he provide specifics.” |
San Diego Water Board approves $1.2 million settlement for sewage discharges to Los Penasquitos Creek, Lagoon, and Pacific Ocean / Scoop San Diego : “the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region (San Diego Water Board), approved a $1,245,414 penalty settlement against the City of San Diego for sewage discharges from Pump Station 64 during the September 8, 2011, area-wide power outage.” |
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City sues Regional Water Board over fuel tank spill near Qualcomm Stadium / San Diego Reader : “1.26 million gallons; that’s the amount of groundwater that Kinder Morgan would like to extract from the MIssion Valley Aquifer and discharge in nearby Murphy Canyon Creek on a daily basis as part of a remediation agreement to clean up a large plume of fuel released into the aquifer underneath Qualcomm Stadium…the City of San Diego is challenging the remediation effort by suing the San Diego Regional Water Control Board for allowing the company to continue depleting the aquifer.” |
Quest for clean water enters unknown, expensive territory / U-T San Diego : “Last week, a state agency ordered dozens of local governments to spend whatever it takes to reduce the levels of bacteria, dirt and chemicals in the water that flows from storm drains into creeks and the ocean, when it rains and during dry weather. San Diego County estimates that just one of the standards, for animal bacteria in runoff, could cost $5.1 billion over 18 years.” |
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San Diego Bay: how polluted in 2013? / San Diego Reader : “Several decades ago, San Diego Bay was considered an industrially polluted waterway, from which most would not eat fish caught in it. Since 1989, the Navy has monitored water conditions and worked with environmental agencies to clean up the bay’s water.” |
Council votes to raise sewer rates / U-T San Diego : “Homeowners in Solana Beach will see their sewer bills inch up annually for the next several years under guidelines tentatively approved Wednesday night. The increase means the owner of a typical single-family home in this affluent seaside town will see annual payments for sewer service rise 2.5 percent…” |
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