Setting The Scene: Industrial Pollution in San Diego County Here in San Diego County, urban runoff is the largest contributor of pollutants into our region’s waterways. Stormwater runoff from industrial facilities in particular significantly contributes to these pollution threats. Certain types of industrial operations conducted in the San Diego region are known to handle or …
WATER USE: IT’S COMPLICATED It’s no secret that water supply, water rights, and water use are complex issues in the state of California. But more broadly speaking, how does water use in California measure up against other states? According to the UCGS, the United States as a whole used over 321,500 million gallons of water …
THE PRICE GASOLINE IS HIGHER THAN YOU THINK Water and energy, two of the most essential elements in our modern society, are inextricably linked. In our prior articles regarding the water-energy nexus, we discussed the massive energy demands, and corresponding greenhouse gas impacts, of transporting, treating, and disposing of water in California. For example, the …
CHEERS TO SUSTAINABILITY San Diego is known as the Beer Capital of America, and with 155 craft breweries, it is clear why. While the brewing process can be environmentally taxing – using numerous gallons of water in each step, and requiring grain that often uses chemicals for growth and fossil fuels for transport – there …
The ocean, rivers, and you As individuals, we can make lots of choices to help our ocean, rivers, and streams — like choosing to ditch single-use plastics, using reusable water bottles, or opting for reef-friendly sunscreen. But a lot of our environmental impact is influenced by less-obvious decisions. For example, have you ever thought about …
Conservation in the post-drought era On the heels of one of the worst droughts in California history – and in the face of a rapidly changing climate and increasingly erratic weather patterns – San Diego Coastkeeper advocated for statewide legislation that would make efficient water use the norm for our region and improve water supply …
Understanding Your Water Footprint As we Californians embrace smarter, more efficient water use as a way of making our relationship with water more sustainable and more secure, we often focus on our residential water use as the primary place to conserve. Truth be told, residential water use – the water we use in our homes …
San Diego Coastkeeper is made up of water-loving people working hard to protect and restore clean water on behalf of the communities and wildlife that depend on it. We surf, we swim, we SUP, we fish, and then we trade our wetsuits for real suits and meet with stakeholders and decision-makers, advocating for the environment …
As difficult as the relentless period of drought had been, perhaps it could serve as a necessary and long-awaited wake-up call for our state. It may have taken three years of the worst drought conditions in the state’s history, but California seemed to be changing the way we valued, talked about, and conserved water.
Recent numbers on urban water use in our region have illuminated a less-than-stellar trend: Many of our area water suppliers are reporting negative conservation rates in December and January, meaning we’re using more water now than we were before the drought even started. It’s both surprising and disappointing to see our region’s water use has …
