Water Authority Enters 'Stage 2' of Drought Management Plan

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published December 7, 2007 at 12:13 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The San Diego County Water Authority Board is now planning to buy more water to increase local supplies. It's what the agency calls Stage 2 of its Drought Management Plan. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce tells

The San Diego County Water Authority Board is now planning to buy more water to increase local supplies. It's what the agency calls Stage 2 of its Drought Management Plan. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce tells us what that means for county water users.

Stage 2 means the San Diego County Water Authority will sign short-term contracts to bring more water here. It doesn't mean anyone in the county has to worry about running out of water soon, it's simply a step the authority takes to make sure that doesn't happen.

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But, if the dry spell continues, it's possible mandatory water restrictions could be rolled out next spring. That's what the agency calls Stage 3.

The Water Authority is negotiating with several water districts and other potential suppliers in northern and central California to line up the additional water supplies for next year. Reduced supplies from the State Water Project, which provides about 40 percent of all water used in the San Diego region, are also expected.

A federal court has ordered restrictions on pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta to protect an endangered fish. Water officials say those restrictions will reduce water deliveries here.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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