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Going to the well: H2O shortage has officials around county looking to groundwater as source

Posted by: Maven on July 5, 2009 at 6:23 am

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

Water officials across the county are looking skyward, seaward and inward to scrounge up enough drinkable H2O to supply their customers. Just beneath the ground’s surface, from Oceanside to the border and from the coast to Interstates 805 and 15, are groundwater basins that few cities have explored because the water is mostly brackish – slightly salty, like V-8 juice – and limited in supply.

Because groundwater needs to be desalinated, local water officials have always found it easier and cheaper to import fresh water from the Colorado River and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which together provide almost 90 percent of the local drinking water. But the drought and the court protection of the delta smelt, a tiny fish that lives in the delta, are changing attitudes toward groundwater.

“It is absolutely a viable source,” said John Liarakos, spokesman for the San Diego County Water Authority.

Last year, groundwater supplied 2 percent of the county’s 692,000 acre-feet of water, Liarakos said. An acre-foot can keep two households of four going for a year. The water authority hopes that by 2020, local cities can produce enough groundwater to supply 6 percent of their needs, Liarakos said.

Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

July 5, 2009 · Filed Under Groundwater, San Diego

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One Response to “Going to the well: H2O shortage has officials around county looking to groundwater as source”

  1. Going to the well: H2O shortage has officials around county … | H2O Report on July 5th, 2009 11:57 am

    [...] original here: Going to the well: H2O shortage has officials around county … aquafornia, beaches, california, delta, delta-issues, desalination, events, groundwater, news, [...]

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