Public Comments due on local clean water plans including Felicita Creek, Lake Hodges, and Escondido Creek. DUE JULY 31

We received the following message from the Regional Water Board.  The Water Quality Improvement Plans, or WQIPs, are very important documents that will guide efforts for water quality for the next 5-10 years in the future.  One of our members serves on the San Dieguito WQIP Consultation Committee and filed these comments on an earlier draft. WQIP comment letter Jan 2015 if you would like the see the kinds of issues that have been raised. 

If you care about water quality in our region, please review and comment to the Regional Water Board.  You can comment on any of the WQIPs you care about. 

Here is the message: 

Dear Municipal Storm Water Permit Interested Persons:

The San Diego County Municipal Storm Water Copermittees have completed their Water Quality Improvement Plans for the following Watershed Management Areas: Carlsbad; Los Penasquitos; Mission Bay; San Diego Bay; San Diego River; San Dieguito River; San Luis Rey River; and Tijuana River.

You are invited to review and submit written comments on these deliverables by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 31, 2015.

Documents can be downloaded from the San Diego Water Board’s website:

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sandiego/water_issues/programs/stormwater/wqip.shtml

The documents can also be accessed from the Project Clean Water Website under the “Watersheds” tab:

http://www.projectcleanwater.org/index.php

Please send all written comments electronically to this email address: SanDiego@waterboards.ca.gov

Written comments should be addressed to the following San Diego Water Board staff:

Carlsbad – Christina Arias

Los Penasquitos – Christina Arias

Mission Bay – Wayne Chiu

San Diego Bay – Wayne Chiu

San Diego River – Christina Arias

San Dieguito River – Christina Arias

San Luis Rey – Wayne Chiu

Tijuana River – Wayne Chiu

Thank you and please contact me with any questions.

Christina Arias, PE

Water Resource Control Engineer

San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board

Tel. (619) 521-3361

2375 Northside Drive, Suite 100

San Diego, CA 92108

An Important public service message from Mr. King Snake

As you know, we here at Escondido Neighbors United appreciate our native snakes!  Here's a must listen PSA from an important neighbor.  Please listen.

https://www.facebook.com/TheReptileReport/videos/725097074268838/

Who knew Mr. King Snake sounds like a southern Grandma.  

Plus a photo of a one of our local King snakes just so you know.

IN SD County they can haves bands 

 or Stripes..

  

Spiritual and Political Leadership on Climate Action Emerging- Encourage Mayor Abed to join 26 Mayors in Climate Action!

For those of us who believe we need to be taking action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, this has been a good week.
First, Pope Francis issued Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home Pope Francis's Teaching on Climate Change,  Pope Francis has written the first papal encyclical focused solely on the environment, attempting to reframe care of the earth as a moral and spiritual concern, and not just a matter of politics, science and economics. In the document, “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home,” he argues that the environment is in crisis – cities to oceans, forests to farmland. He emphasizes that the poor are most affected by damage from what he describes as economic systems that favor the wealthy, and political systems that lack the courage to look beyond short-term rewards. But the encyclical is addressed to everyone on the planet. Its 184 pages are an urgent, accessible call to action, making a case that all is interconnected, including the solutions to the grave environmental crisis.

Next, led by the Mayor of Houston, a nationwide group of Mayors weighed in.
Mayors' Letter to Obama on Climate Change

Important leadership on climate action continues to come from the local level. This press release contains a letter by mayors of 26 cities to Pres. Obama. As the letter mentions, many of these cities are already on the road to positive action.   Please write Mayor Sam Abed letter of encouragement. and ask him to join this group of leaders!  

Newly released US EPA Environmental Justice Maps show high impact in some Escondido neighborhoods

Following closely after the State EJ Screen maps, the US Environmental Protection Agency released their mapping of the most impacted communities in the country from a pollution burden perspective.  The LA Times reported today Los Angeles Times EJ article
Southern California doesn't fare well and, sadly, some Escondido areas show up in the highest percentiles for many of the hazards.  You can take a look here. Federal EJ Screen
Our local areas with the worst indicators seem to line up, again, in areas in District 1.  There is funding from the state to address these hardest hit neighborhoods.  We have asked the Mayor and Council to pursue funding for projects to improve these impacted neighborhoods.  We hope the city will work with community groups to develop a plan that can help alleviate some of these health and pollution burdens.

LAFCO prelim staff report out on Oak Creek

The LAFCO Preliminary Staff report on Oak Creek has been issued.  Escondido Neighbors United has already registered our concerns about this in our April 2, 2015 ENU To LAFCO comment letter. The staff report does report on several of the issues that we are concerned but appears to support the annexation or 'reorganization'.
In this time of drought, it seems meaningful that the new project will create a huge new water demand of at least 33,150 gallons a day in a time when Rincon del Diablo has been given a requirement to reduce water use by 32%.  A recent article in the San Diego Union Tribune showed that Rincon had only reduce by 12%.  We continue to ask the question, how will we meet water conservation reductions if agencies continue to permit new homes, especially in current open space areas.  
LAFCO also increased the annexation area to include more of Hamilton road, but does not remedy the two significant de-facto jurisdictional islands that this project creates.
More later but we wanted to be sure you had access to this report.
The LAFCO hearing date has not yet been set but their meetings are the first Monday of the month.

Escondido Neighbors United is opposed to this reorganization and will communicate our opposition to LAFCO.