San Diego

Oceanside’s City Council asked staffers this week for a study of ways the city can lead its own project to get more sand out of its clogged harbor and onto its eroded beaches. The city is growing increasingly concerned over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to dredge the harbor this year, along with the federal agency’s inability to complete other projects that could beef up Oceanside’s beaches.

San Diego’s ocean waters are warmer than usual. Last week, researchers recorded the warmest sea surface temperature in more than a century. Each day, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego collect data by hand from the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier.

Jennifer Bowles, executive director of the Water Education Foundation, will speak on a panel about the media during the 25th Annual Urban Water Institute’s conference in San Diego Aug 22-24. Bowles, a veteran journalist and executive editor of the Foundation’s Western Water news, will join other media representatives, including Ry Rivard of the Voice of San Diego, to discuss Working with the Media in Changing Times. Former Foundation Executive Director Rita Schmidt Sudman, author of Water More or Less, will moderate.

From the Los Angeles Times:

[Lars] Mitchell, 52, a contractor, has succinctly hit upon twin facts that have driven San Diego County water policy for 70 years: the region does not own most of its water supply, and water is often a zero-sum business — for every winner there must be a loser.

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From U-T San Diego:

The Rainbow Municipal Water District, which is the focus of a takeover bid by the larger Fallbrook Public Utilities District (FPUD), has filed a claim against FPUD saying its attempt to absorb Rainbow constitutes a breach of contract.

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From U-T San Diego, in a commentary by Cary Lowe:

When the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted a new Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems Permit last year, there was great alarm on the part of local governments, real estate developers and others affected by it.

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From the San Jose Mercury News:

“The crews are building what boosters say represents California’s best hope for a drought-proof water supply: the largest ocean desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The $1 billion project will provide 50 million gallons of drinking water a day for San Diego County when it opens in 2016.”

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From the Associated Press:

“The weekend before nine wildfires erupted in the San Diego area, scores of state firefighters were sent along with engines and aircraft to the region – knowing that the forecast of a heat wave and gusty winds was setting the stage for a tinderbox.”

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From the Los Angeles Times:

“Brush fires broke out Wednesday in more than half a dozen spots in northern San Diego County and spread at a dangerous pace as hot, dry, erratic winds, backed by record temperatures, raked Southern California for a second day.”

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