![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
30-05-2022, 09:07 AM
By SUMAN NAISHADHAM
yesterday
......
Over the past three decades, San Diego County diversified its water supply, ramped up conservation and invested in big-ticket water infrastructure including the Western hemisphere’s largest desalination plant, which removes salt and impurities from ocean water. As a result, the water agency that serves 24 water utilities including the city of San Diego says it can avoid cuts until at least 2045, even during dry periods. But that security has come at a cost.
San Diego County’s water is among the most expensive in the country
......
In the 1990s, a severe dry period cut the region’s water supply by 30%.
......
“At that point, our community came together and said, ’We’re not going to be in this situation again. We need to plan for our own reliability,” said Sandy Kerl, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority.
......
in 2003, the water authority cut a deal to get water from the single largest user of the Colorado River, the Imperial Irrigation District, in Southern California. San Diego County funded repairs to leaky canals belonging to Imperial and signed a historic water transfer deal. Today, it receives about 55% of its total supply from Imperial as part of the deal.
The water authority also helped farmers use less water. It raised dams to increase storage capacity in reservoirs. It provided rebates to homeowners who ripped out grass lawns for water-efficient alternatives.
In 2012, San Diego County forged a deal to get 10% of its water supply from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant for the next 30 years. The plant produces 50 million gallons of drinkable water — enough for about 400,000 people — every day and is by far the region’s most expensive water source.
......
While those efforts took hold, demand steadily fell, even as half a million more people moved to San Diego. Statewide water cuts during drought, more efficient showers, toilets and taps, rebates to tear out grass and the use of recycled water did what they were supposed to do — steeply reducing per-person water use. By 2020, San Diegans used 30% less water than in 1990.
Water officials, however, didn’t foresee the coming drop in demand and consistently overestimated how much water was needed. Today, San Diego County says it is no longer searching for more water, a position that some in the West might consider enviable. But they wouldn’t envy the water rates.
Thanks to selling less water, San Diego County has raised rates — by an average of 4% for each of the past five years — to cover fixed costs including the San Vicente Dam and desalination plant. Such costs make up the lion’s share — roughly 90% — of the agency’s annual expenses.
......
“Water is a terrible business to be in because we have to promote people to use less of our product and charge them more when they do,” said Tom Kennedy, general manager of the Rainbow Municipal Water District
Read full report at: https://apnews.com/article/california-dr...e24fd2f7f1
yesterday
......
Over the past three decades, San Diego County diversified its water supply, ramped up conservation and invested in big-ticket water infrastructure including the Western hemisphere’s largest desalination plant, which removes salt and impurities from ocean water. As a result, the water agency that serves 24 water utilities including the city of San Diego says it can avoid cuts until at least 2045, even during dry periods. But that security has come at a cost.
San Diego County’s water is among the most expensive in the country
......
In the 1990s, a severe dry period cut the region’s water supply by 30%.
......
“At that point, our community came together and said, ’We’re not going to be in this situation again. We need to plan for our own reliability,” said Sandy Kerl, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority.
......
in 2003, the water authority cut a deal to get water from the single largest user of the Colorado River, the Imperial Irrigation District, in Southern California. San Diego County funded repairs to leaky canals belonging to Imperial and signed a historic water transfer deal. Today, it receives about 55% of its total supply from Imperial as part of the deal.
The water authority also helped farmers use less water. It raised dams to increase storage capacity in reservoirs. It provided rebates to homeowners who ripped out grass lawns for water-efficient alternatives.
In 2012, San Diego County forged a deal to get 10% of its water supply from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant for the next 30 years. The plant produces 50 million gallons of drinkable water — enough for about 400,000 people — every day and is by far the region’s most expensive water source.
......
While those efforts took hold, demand steadily fell, even as half a million more people moved to San Diego. Statewide water cuts during drought, more efficient showers, toilets and taps, rebates to tear out grass and the use of recycled water did what they were supposed to do — steeply reducing per-person water use. By 2020, San Diegans used 30% less water than in 1990.
Water officials, however, didn’t foresee the coming drop in demand and consistently overestimated how much water was needed. Today, San Diego County says it is no longer searching for more water, a position that some in the West might consider enviable. But they wouldn’t envy the water rates.
Thanks to selling less water, San Diego County has raised rates — by an average of 4% for each of the past five years — to cover fixed costs including the San Vicente Dam and desalination plant. Such costs make up the lion’s share — roughly 90% — of the agency’s annual expenses.
......
“Water is a terrible business to be in because we have to promote people to use less of our product and charge them more when they do,” said Tom Kennedy, general manager of the Rainbow Municipal Water District
Read full report at: https://apnews.com/article/california-dr...e24fd2f7f1
