The Sweetwater Authority, a South County water district, is making moves to install solar panels on its drinking water reservoir. It would be the first time solar panels have been floated on a drinking reservoir in the United States.
Sweetwater’s general manager has been dreaming of the floating panels since his past gigs at other water districts.
“On my commute home every day I used to drive by Lake Matthews. Wouldn’t it be cool to have floating solar up there, was something I would think about,” Quintero said.
As a first step toward making the panels a reality, Sweetwater has hired a company called Noria Energy to study the possible cost savings of floating solar.
As our MacKenzie Elmer writes: “Noria has built floating solar arrays on top of a hydroelectric reservoir in Urra, Colombia and on wastewater treatment ponds in Healdsburg, California, both smaller than the solar panel array proposed at Sweetwater.”
But, of course, some residents aren’t stoked about the project.
North County Report: A New Homeless Shelter in Vista
Vista and Encinitas have followed through on fast-track plans to open a joint homeless shelter in North County. The shelter will open in March. It will have 36 beds set aside for Vista residents and 12 for Encinitas residents.
The shelter came about so quickly, in part, because Vista leaders realized last year that many homeless beds they’d been funding were unavailable to Vista residents. The majority of referrals from Vista were not actually getting a bed because the shelter had limited space.
Vista, along with Encinitas, decided to start its own shelter to avoid the problem. The shelter will be low-barrier, meaning it won’t require things like sobriety or background checks.
In other North County homeless news: Our North County reporter Tigist Layne will be watching more developments related to homelessness in Encinitas. The city’s mayor plans to consider a ban on camping in RV’s on public roads, as well as camping in public places.
Read the North County Report here.
Want to Know What San Diego’s Legislators Are Doing? We Got You.
We are relaunching the Sacramento Report this week!
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In Other News
- A new poll shows that cost of living and homelessness issues are still top of mind for San Diegans. (Axios San Diego)
- You’ll have to wait a little longer to visit Balboa Park’s Botanical Building. The Union-Tribune has the latest on the restoration effort.
- Chula Vista residents are growing increasingly concerned about a growing homeless encampment on Industrial Boulevard. The City Council met Tuesday to discuss how it could address safety concerns from residents and businesses nearby. (Fox 5)
- San Diego Unified’s pre-enrollment window for transitional kindergarten opens next week. (CBS 8) Need a guide to help you navigate San Diego’s school system? We got you. Download our guide to San Diego schools for free here.
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.
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