Monthly Archives: December 2016

Question on Drought Contingency Planning

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Darren Simon
San Diego County Water Authority
QSA Outreach Coordinator

Question:

There is a lot of talk about something called drought contingency planning as a way to help maintain Lake Mead levels, but I hear it would require California to conserve more water than it already does under the QSA. Can you share what you know about this new proposal?

 

Answer:

First off, there are a couple of points that need to be made clear. The Water Authority has not been a participant in the drought contingency planning (DCP) negotiations. The participating agencies are the Section 5 Contractors on the river, including Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Imperial Irrigation District, Coachella Valley Water District, Palo Verde Water District, and representatives from Arizona and Nevada. California’s Colorado River Board and the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) are also participating. The second point is that no agreement has been reached and no agreement

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Carlsbad Desalination Plant Reaches First Year Anniversary

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Pictured is a tour group from Imperial Valley who visited the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant earlier this year. On Dec. 14, the plant celebrated its first year of operation.

 

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant reached a critical milestone—completing its first full year of operation. It was in December 2015 that the plant opened in an event that brought together 600 elected officials, community leaders and project partners from throughout the region. During this first year the plant has produced about 10 percent of the San Diego region’s water demand. More specifically, the plant produced nearly 15 billion gallons of fresh water—about 45,000 acre-feet—for the region during one of the most severe droughts in state history.

The Carlsbad Desalination Plant is the result of a 30-year, public-private partnership between the plant’s developer and owner, Poseidon Water, and the Water Authority for the production

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Griffen: Dedicated to Serving the Valley’s Hungry Through the Imperial Valley Food Bank

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Sara Griffen, executive director of the Imperial Valley Food Bank, is pictured in her office at the Food Bank’s headquarters and warehouse in rural El Centro

When your job is to feed the hungry in a rural county with limited resources where so many are living at or below poverty level, leaving thousands as “food insecure,” you know the work will not be easy.

It is the kind of work that can bring you face to face with hardship, especially when seeing children without enough food, but it also allows you to see the best in the community as people provide their time and resources to help.

This is the job that Sara Griffen has.

She is the executive director of the Imperial Valley Food Bank, an agency serving 20,000 people monthly throughout Imperial County.

It’s an agency that fights hunger by securing the financial resources and food needed month after month, year

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