San Diego Residents Are Asked to Conserve Water

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 27, 2006 at 5:53 AM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego water agencies are asking residents to conserve water for the next week-and-a-half while upgrades are made to a major regional water treatment plan. KPBS ReporterEd Joyce has details.

San Diego water agencies are asking residents to conserve water for the next week-and-a-half while upgrades are made to a major regional water treatment plan. KPBS ReporterEd Joyce has details.

The San Diego County Water Authority and other county agencies say the water-saving request is voluntary, but some mandatory restrictions could be imposed if local supplies dwindle during the shutdown. Water Authority spokesman Bill Jacoby says the work at the Skinner treatment plant near Temecula will increase the water treatment capacity by 110 million-gallons to serve the needs of the region.

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Jacoby: There’s been tremendous growth in Riverside County as well as some growth, additional growth in San Diego. The plant has been expanded dramatically to keep up with that growth, however, some plumbing changes need to be made.

Jacoby says the authority gets nearly 45-percent of its treated water from the Skinner plant each day. He says the agency will also inspect and repair canals and pipes that bring water to the region during the shutdown. The improvements at the Skinner plant are expected to be completed by next summer. 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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