You’ve probably heard winter rain in California nearly wiped out the statewide drought, and San Diego has sloshed around in the free water just like every other city. But you wouldn’t know it if you look at our local reservoirs; there sits San Vincente at 77 percent capacity, and over yonder, the dehydrated Lake Morena, which is testing how far you can stretch the definition of “lake” by sitting at 91 percent empty. A full 41 percent of storage space at San Diego’s reservoirs is unused, Ry Rivard reports, while reservoirs throughout other parts of California boast fill rates of 80 percent and beyond.
Rainwater collected in reservoirs is cheap and will evaporate, so water officials try to use it as soon as they get it.
Reservoirs act as an emergency water source in the event of a disaster, so the city keeps enough water on hand meet that requirement. But otherwise, the city is eager to get that cheap water and deliver it to ratepayers. “There’s no precise figure yet for how much money ratepayers will save because of this year’s rains, but the city is expected to release a figure at the end of the budget year,” Rivard writes.
• The San Diego County Water Authority announced Thursday it will seek a 3.7 percent increase in water rates, mostly due to increased costs of water delivered from our regional water wholesaler, the Metropolitan Water District. (KPBS) The Water Authority is the wholesaler to many city and farming districts so an increase in its rates will trickle down to consumers in some form.
• Los Angeles has received so much rain it will have to push back the opening of a new Rams/Chargers stadium by a year. The Chargers will end up playing in the StubHub Center soccer stadium for three years. (LA Times)
Persistent Pension Problems: San Diego Explained
Every now and then we have to check in on how pension costs are doing in San Diego, and it’s almost always bad news. As pensioners live longer, pension costs continue to rise and without additional funding sources to compensate. That ever-widening gap has to be filled every year, often by taxpayers. Ashly McGlone and NBC 7’s Monica Dean provide a visual breakdown of current pension numbers and what the future looks like for unfunded pension liabilities in our most recent San Diego Explained.
SoccerCity Reveals Negotiation Details
FS Investors, the group behind the SoccerCity plan to bring a Major League Soccer team to the Qualcomm Stadium site, released details of their negotiations with SDSU on Thursday. FS Investors says they have offered SDSU 17 acres at the site for stadium and building development, as well as options for more land or to have facilities built by the investment group for SDSU’s use, Times of San Diego reports. SDSU cut off negotiations earlier in the week due to the land concession falling short, they also report. FS Investors says SDSU would need to agree to partner with them by December.
Lincoln Students Walk Out, Impatient for a Principal
Tensions at Lincoln High continue to escalate over the long delayed search for a principal that will stay put and guide the school out of its troubles. On Thursday, students staged a walk-out from classes to express their disappointment over the district’s refusal to give the job of principal to a current Vice Principal Jose Soto. The district says Soto is unqualified and not under consideration.
Lightning Round
• NBC 7’s Wendy Fry presented an interesting fact: San Diego Police Department is facing a severe recruitment and retention problem. But 4,000 people, on average, apply to be officers. Though that number took a dive in 2016.
• Outgoing District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and her preferred successor Summer Stephan for months have been meeting privately with individual members of the county Board of Supervisors, the Union-Tribune reports. The board will appoint a temporary replacement for Dumanis soon. Stephan told us if people have a problem, they need to step to her.
• Lawsuits from victims and families of victims of a drunk driver who drove off the Coronado Bridge and landed on a group of people at Chicano Park could cost the city big time. (NBC 7)
• A bunch of San Diegans are involved in a lawsuit against California seeking to overturn a ban on so-called large capacity gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. (Union-Tribune)
• Parents of students in San Diego Unified School District complain that sex education in their schools could be to blame for teens looking up porn on the internet. (Union-Tribune)
• If you’ve got $10 million lying around you can buy a decent condo in La Jolla. (Union-Tribune)
• Readers, let this be a lesson: when convicted as part of a huge bribery scandal, you can’t expect to bring your therapy dog with you to prison, even if you are the first active-duty rear admiral in Navy history to be convicted and incarcerated. (NBC 7)
Seth Hall is a local writer and technologist. You can email him at voice@s3th.com or follow him on Twitter: @loteck.