San Diego regional water news roundup Aug 5-11, 2013
Posted by George J Janczyn on August 12, 2013
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Audit: City left $10 million uncollected / U-T San Diego : “San Diego has collected almost $10 million less than required in wastewater fees for industrial customers over the past three years due to a flawed billing system, according to a new report from the city’s independent auditor…” |
Imperial Irrigation District on-farm water conservation program approved / Imperial Valley Press : “…the program will pay farmers $285 per acre-foot of verified water conservation, with a seasonal limit of 4 acre-feet of water per acre for all crops. It is funded by the San Diego County Water Authority and Coachella Valley Water District under the terms of the Quantification Settlement Agreements water transfer…” |
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State water supply becoming big concern / Holtville Tribune : “Last week a judge approved the complex water deal between the farmers of the Imperial Valley and the cities of San Diego County — hailed as the largest sale of water from farms to cities in the nation. This deal comes at a time when there is growing concern over the state’s water supply…” |
How San Diego’s ‘Blue Economy’ can be a catalyst for the region / Voice of San Diego : “One of our lesser-known assets is our “blue economy” – a fast-growing cluster of maritime-related companies and organizations representing 14 sectors including fish farming, desalination & clean water technology, shipbuilding, biomedicine, defense, marine recreation and ocean science…” |
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California’s civil war is about water, and the south doesn’t seem to care / Truthdig : “Southern Californians get much of their fresh water from the northern part of the state and they don’t seem to care that the system that supplies that water is in danger of collapse…” |
Health warning on freshwater fish / U-T San Diego : “In the first statewide health advisory on freshwater fish, environmental regulators are cautioning people about eating certain species found in streams, lakes and reservoirs because they contain high levels of certain toxins…” |
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CH2M Hill scores consulting coup with San Diego win / American Water Intelligence : “The City of San Diego has awarded CH2M Hill a three-year, $6 million consulting contract designed to optimize the operation of its water and wastewater systems. A team of CH and Brown and Caldwell beat out two other consortia led by Veolia and Black & Veatch, respectively…” |
City Council to vote on rate increases for San Dieguito Water District / The Coast News : “If passed, rates will increase 8.1 percent in September for the average SDWD customer. Following that, another rate increase, as much as 8.5 percent, would take effect July 2014. However, the second rate hike percentage isn’t set in stone…” |
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Key to San Diego’s water woes is conservation / U-T San Diego : “The state has mandated a 20 percent reduction in water use by the year 2020, but much more is needed…The most reliable and least expensive gallon of water is the one we don’t use in the first place…” |
Joint Salton Sea mitigation petition on the rocks / Imperial Valley Press : “A petition filed by the Imperial Irrigation District and San Diego County Water Authority to substitute environmental mitigation initiatives for water at the Salton Sea is unlikely to proceed…” |
GrokSurf's San Diego 
Burt Freeman said
Well, we in San Diego have good news in the legal validation of the QSA; does that mean that our worries about Colorado River water have evaporated?
Here are some worries that I hope someone will disabuse me of: The Salton sea is still pouring water into the atmosphere and exposing playa without solution in sight, except to pour into it an equivalent amount of Colorado river water; Are the farmers of Imperial Valley obligated to provide us with “our” water and at what price?; I’m told that the demand for the river water is exceding the supply, so what is going to give and who will go with less?