Getting rid of the San Diego County Water Authority might be the best way to address regional water costs and needs in the future.
That’s what the plurality of concepts studied by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission or LAFCO, suggest under its first audit of the county’s water wholesaler. The Water Authority fell under LAFCO’s scrutiny a few years ago after two member water districts fought to leave the agency over its high water prices.
So LAFCO decided to do what’s called a municipal service review of the Water Authority. That’s a fancy way of saying an audit with recommendations on how to fix certain problems.
LAFCO came up with three possible solutions to the Water Authority’s dire financial straits. Here’s what they are:
- Dissolve the Water Authority into smaller water wholesale regions.
- Dissolve it and form a new special district to manage water treatment and reservoir storage while giving the rest of the Water Authority’s assets to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
- Expand the Water Authority’s power by letting it absorb its 22-member water district’s role of selling water to cities and the county.
South County Report: What We Know About Coronado’s ‘Jet House’
Residents of the ritzy Coronado Cays community are up in arms over an unusual new home under construction that includes a 40-foot-long rooftop fuselage of a jet.
For his latest South County Report, our Jim Hinch was determined to get to the bottom of what’s happening there.
Among his findings: Neighbors are seeking a court injunction to stop what architectural renderings call “The Jet House.” That lawsuit identifies the owner as Abdulelah I. Albusseir, the apparent owner of a development company that submitted plans for the house.
Albusseir also may be connected with an artist who goes by the same name as the development company – Donatello Bonasera – and who designs solid-gold skulls and other fine art objects. An Architectural Digest advertorial featuring the development company compares its owner to Leonardo Da Vinci and says he is readying plans to build a residential community on Mars.
Read the full South County Report here.
San Diego’s Air Is Super Polluted
Our friends at KPBS read a report on the state of our air so you didn’t have to and found that San Diego County is among the most polluted regions in the country.
“The 2026 State of the Air report ranked San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad as the fifth-worst nationally for annual particle pollution,” writes KPBS’s Tammy Murga. “Last year, it landed in 59th place. The region also ranked as the seventh worst for ozone pollution.”
Why? Probably all of the cars. A lot of these pollutants dropped dramatically during the pandemic when workers stayed home, as we’ve reported.
Read the full story on KPBS here.
Chicano Park Boulevard!
The San Diego City Council voted this week to rename a street in Barrio Logan from Cesar E. Chavez Parkway to Chicano Park Boulevard in response to sexual abuse allegations against the late labor leader.
Business owners and residents must now begin the process of updating their addresses on all legal and business documents. NBC 7 reports that the city is not helping residents pay for costs associated with that process.
In Other News
- The state Water Resources Control Board now has a plan to dole out nearly $50 million in state bonds for water quality projects meant to help long-running debacles near the border. (KPBS)
- A judge this week granted four anti-ICE protesters who barricaded themselves inside Mayor Todd Gloria’s office in January misdemeanor diversion that could lead to the dismissal of their cases. (NBC 7)
- The U.S. Navy Reserve inspector general ordered Congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar to take corrective actions tied to his descriptions of his service as a reserve officer in his campaign. (KPBS)
- The National City Municipal Golf Course will live on for at least five more years. (Fox 5 San Diego)
- A proposed county-backed park in Alpine will undergo a second environmental review after a Superior Court judge ruled that an initial review and approvals be set aside. (KPBS)
- Update: A member of Encinitas’s city Urban Forestry Advisory Committee held onto his seat this week after concerns about his controversial Facebook post describing a video of African-style dance as “scenes of blacks dressed in tribal gear banging on drums.” (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by MacKenzie Elmer, Lisa Halverstadt and Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.