S1: This week on Kpbs roundtable. San Diego water managers are saying we'll have plenty of water next year.
S2: Well , sometimes I feel like we never really know if we'll have enough water because we never really know when the next drought will come and how bad it will be.
S1: But limited access to the Colorado River and ongoing impacts of climate change means water will remain a challenge for our region in the coming years.
S3: What I think that they're doing with this is just reminding everyone they've made a significant investment in their water infrastructure over the last 30 years and we're kind of enjoying the benefits of that.
S1: Don't go anywhere. Roundtable is coming up next. Welcome to Kpbs Roundtable. I'm Matt Hoffman. San Diego Water managers say the outlook for the next year looks good and our region should have plenty of water. Now , that might seem like an odd declaration for officials to make , but there's lingering concerns about where we're getting the majority of our water from with potential cuts coming soon. And coming up later in the show , even though there's plenty of water to go around , why are city of San Diego customers seeing a 20% spike in their water bills ? Joining me to discuss the current water outlook are Kpbs environment reporter Eric Anderson and voice of San Diego's environment and energy reporter Mackenzie Elmer. I want to welcome you both back here to roundtable. Eric , let's start with the news that came out this week. Officials say we don't have to worry about water for the next year.
S3: It sounds very familiar to last year , right ? Even though we were in a drought last year , water officials came out and said , look , we've got plenty of water. And what I think that they're doing with this is just reminding everyone they've made a significant investment in their water infrastructure over the last 30 years. And we're kind of enjoying the benefits of that. Even as the state was struggling with drought a year ago , San Diego had no issues supplying the water , and they want to reassure their customers that the water that they say is going to be available is actually going to be available. And , you know , they give credit for that for a number of things. The Carlsbad desalination plant that makes 50 million gallons of water a day , the Iid water transfer deal with the Imperial Valley that brings Colorado River water to our area and some of the water storage projects that have been constructed in San Diego. 11 Hain Reservoir , San Vicente Dam , that created a reservoir there as well. And they're saying that , you know , things are looking pretty good.
S1:
S2: And we just we just got out of one of the worst droughts we've ever seen in the West. And we didn't we didn't really know when that was going to break. And we had this miracle rain that basically blew the entire state out of drought status. So , you know , San Diego is really confident in the deals that they made in the past that Eric alluded to to secure Colorado River water for the region and store it in a lot of these investments that we have. But that doesn't mean that we're , you know , completely free of worry into the future. There's still a lot of stress on the Colorado River , which is still our main source of drinking water. And there's a lot going on nationally on trying to figure out how we're going to survive with that river being the main source for a lot of the Western United States.
S1: And that's a perfect segue , Mackenzie , because let's kind of get to the catch here , Eric. Things look good for now , but that's due in part to , as Mackenzie just said , all the water that we get from the Colorado River. I think one of your guys's stories , it's like 60% of our region's water.
S3: A lot of that water comes to San Diego through the water transfer agreement with the Imperial Irrigation District. The amount of water there is kind of locked in. So we get most of our Colorado River water from there. But we do also still buy some from Metropolitan. That water is blended in with the state water project , water that comes from the Sacramento Delta. But that water really relies on how much is available in the Colorado River. One thing that we heard a lot over the last couple of years as this megadrought was happening in the Colorado River Basin is that people were just taking too much water out of the Colorado. That's why the levels of those two huge reservoirs were dropping , like Mead and Lake Powell. It's because it was we were using too much water. And so there were discussions that began in the last year about how do we reduce the amount of water that we take there. And I think that's what's at play here. How much do we cut back if there are voluntary cutbacks , No immediate harm to San Diego as a region , but if there are mandatory cutbacks , we could lose around 6.5% of the water that we've already contracted to to buy from the Imperial Irrigation District. So I think that the eyes are looking to the east in this case and first at the sky and then at the ground to kind of see where where the the water situation is on the Colorado River. And that'll tell us a lot about how much water is available here.
S2: And one major point two that Erik was alluding to is from the start , when we when we first decided how much. Colorado River water each of the state's tribes and and Mexico would use and we were basing that off of kind of a wrong number. We sort of over predicted how much water was in the river to even share. And so that's we're kind of basing and a lot of these decisions off of sort of bad math that's now drastically changed. And that's part of the big problem here is we have to kind of grapple with the fact that there just isn't the water that we thought there was going forward.
S3: And the thing that is kind of unique about this year , right , it's it's almost like rainfall washes away memories in some ways. We got a lot of rain here in San Diego , 13 atmospheric storms. We had that tropical storm in the summer , but also in the Colorado River basin , they had above average rainfall and they got a lot of runoff out of the Colorado mountains. And so reservoirs , the two key reservoirs that everybody looks at , like Powell and Lake Mead , their levels actually went up. And so people are feeling pretty good about the amount of water , certainly feeling better about the amount of water that's in there. But people who have looked at the Colorado River Basin over a long period of time know that , you know , it's more likely to be a drought condition on the river than it is to be a wet year. So there's no guarantee that this wet cycle that we had this year is going to be replicated next year. And that's why there are still so many questions for sure.
S2: And it also just takes a lot of the pressure off of everybody whenever it rains. I mean , if you look back at the history on the Colorado River , you know , the eyes of Congress are drawn to the West When there's a drought , when there's when there's problems on the Colorado River. And then the minute it rains , the minute those miracle years happen , everybody relaxes. And , you know , the feds kind of maybe turn to other problems that they have to deal with and there's less pressure to try to force or , you know , kindly ask and potentially force users to reduce their use and actually in exchange for some money from the federal government potentially. So it's going to be interesting to see. There's still a lot of pressure that because we know is going to return to try to fix that , that problem , that math now before it gets worse , before we end up having to , you know , resolve this under some serious pressure from Mother Earth.
S1: And so bottom line , it sounds like that the Colorado River is vastly important to our region in terms of where we get our water from. And Mackenzie , you had a piece this week where you sort of laid out how we get that water. Like it's not like there's some giant pipe that San Diego has connected to a spot in the river. It goes through others first , and then we end up paying like a very high premium for it.
S2: San Diego doesn't have its own massive pipe or connection directly to the Colorado River , although some of its leaders would like that to happen. There has been talk multiple times in the past about San Diego just straight up building its own pipeline to the Colorado River to finally , you know , gain control over its own water resources. But basically , San Diego purchased its water from the LA based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California , which does have a aqueduct and canals to the Colorado River that were set up back in the 20s to 1940s. And so San Diego has traditionally always purchased its water from Metropolitan and sent down another set of aqueducts south to San Diego. And in fact , you know , though San Diego has cut this deal like we talked about with Imperial Valley and the farmers there to buy some of their Colorado River water , that water still flows through the same pipes and aqueducts that Metropolitan owns , which has been always a big , massive sticking point between San Diego and Metropolitan. And it's resulted in lawsuits that still aren't resolved. But basically , Colorado River water is technically free. It's allocated to states and nations and tribes. And it's just the minute that you move that water is when those price tags start to accumulate. So transportation is really the bulk of the cost of water that we do pay here in San Diego and across the west.
S1: And Eric Mackenzie just pointed out there that water is free until you have to move it.
S3: First of all , you know , the region only averages 9.5in or so of rain , you know , at the San Diego airport a year. So that's not a lot of water to start with. The second part of the equation. There's that. It costs a lot of money. It's very expensive to build things like reservoirs and to build things like dams that would hold all of that water. If you think about the state of California as a whole , the state's largest reservoir is actually not even a reservoir itself. It's the snowpack up in the Sierras. It holds more water than all the other water storage projects around the state combined. And then it releases that water as it melts through the course of the spring and the summer. But it's expensive to build that kind of infrastructure , and that doesn't seem to be a practical solution locally and we don't get a ton of rain anyway. So that makes it kind of hard to fill those up if you're not being having them be replenished regularly.
S1: Just a head on round table.
S2: Water is very feast or famine. We often have either too much coming down the rivers and snowpack or we have not enough.
S1: That's coming up just after the break. Welcome back to Kpbs Roundtable. I'm Matt Hoffman. Joining me to discuss the current water outlook are Kpbs environment reporter Eric Anderson and voice of San Diego's environment and energy reporter Mackenzie Elmer. And in terms of why all this is important , we know that drier conditions are expected in the coming years , right , Mackenzie ? I mean , have you noticed that officials are starting to square with that reality or even just things like resources like the Colorado River may be being drained quicker than maybe we thought ? Yeah.
S2: I think like we talked about earlier , you know , we know more droughts are coming in California especially , you know , water is very feast or famine. We often have either too much coming down the rivers and snowpack or we have not enough. So I guess it just depends on how bad , how quickly weather patterns change due to climate change. A big thing that influences this is the seasonal swing brought on by El Nino or La Nina. So we just came out of a La Nina , which is a typically more drier conditions for California. And now we're headed into an El Nino season , which typically generates wetter years. But for how long ? The those seasonal switches will last. We're not really we're not really sure. They're generally have like a couple of year pattern and then they switch back. But I think scientists are doing as much predicting as possible. And I know that the federal government at the Bureau of Reclamation , you know , I was at a conference in Las Vegas where a lot of the Colorado River water users go to do negotiations. And the bureau basically just kept giving presentations with red alert , red alert. You know , we we have we already have over allocated we're overusing the Colorado River. We're in a huge drought. And we are in some really dire situations here that we're going to have to maybe start using some of the the might and the power of the federal government to step in if the states can't decide how to solve this problem.
S3: Yeah , and I've heard that convention referred to as the Bolo tie convention of the West. Everybody , you know , water managers from everywhere go there. And another thing to consider is that when I was talking to Richard Heim at the US Drought Monitor earlier this week , he told me that the last 20 years in the Colorado River Basin have been the driest 20 years of the previous 130 where they have record. So the drought , which has been going on for some time , has been more intense and it's been longer. And he doesn't see anything in the trend lines that suggest that it's going to be anything other than that. So the stress is going to remain on the Colorado River , and that's going to potentially put federal water managers in a difficult position in terms of deciding what the future of that river is going to be. You know , if you're an attorney who specializes in in water law , you're probably looking at 2026 and thinking about what kind of a vacation home you're going to be able to buy , because I've got a suspicion that the water attorneys are going to be very , very busy if especially if the federal government decides to step in and kind of change how water is distributed along the Colorado River basin. So that's something that's kind of out there a little bit. But but it's something that all water managers are thinking about now because it could have a potentially large impact on on anyone who uses the Colorado River for a water supply.
S1:
S3: There's the Pure Water Project in San Diego is a good example. If you think back just a little bit as to why , why is the city of San Diego is spending $3 billion plus to put that project online , which is recycling sewage , reclaiming the water out of the sewage system and then purifying it and establishing it as a source of drinking water. The reason they're doing that is because we have a sewage plant on Point Loma that is not meeting clean water standards , has never met clean water standards. And local officials in the city of San Diego , under pressure from environmentalists , agreed that in lieu of spending 2 or $3 billion to make a small incremental increase in the quality of the water they release at that plant , they would build this pure water facility. And the pure water facility is really potentially a game changer for the region. It would produce more water potentially than the Carlsbad desalination plant. There's a possibility that they could double the initial amount of water sometime down the road that they produce. So if it's well received , if it works well , if it does as it's hoped , it could be a major source of drinking water for the. Reaching , and that takes pressure off of purchasing all of these other water sources that we buy water from here in San Diego. And it might be the thing that is spurring local officials , local water officials at the San Diego County Water Authority to consider finding a way to maybe market that water outside of the region , you know , kind of sell it on a on an open market to become a supplier instead of just a consumer of water. So there's a lot percolating there in terms of water supply and water and how that might shake out.
S1: And we know that those projects are expensive and maybe this is getting a little bit in the weeds. Mackenzie But in terms of like why there aren't more desalination plants , you know , we're right there along the coast or sewage recycling efforts or water capture efforts.
S2: And it's kind of stuck in the in the books until 2047 when they potentially can renegotiate that contract with Imperial Valley. But I mean , desalination plants are having a hard time getting going. There's a lot of environmental challenges there. They're obviously very costly. There's been some problems at the Carlsbad plant that have added additional costs. Sewage recycling efforts , though , are becoming more and more popular , I would say , even though they are expensive , we've already seen more local recycling efforts pop up even beyond the city of San Diego's mandatory pure water project. There's even some smaller desalination efforts , but not a huge by huge plant like in Carlsbad , but just sort of like smaller efforts like in Sweetwater and Authority and just other different smaller water districts as well as Los Angeles. They have a huge pure water project that they're also pursuing. And because of Metropolitan , the Los Angeles based Water Authority's power and ability on the Colorado River to kind of make deals with that water , they're actually have attracted investments from water districts in Las Vegas and in Arizona to help kind of financially support some of those projects. I think that's kind of what my story was about and what Eric was alluding to with this this water market that may or may not be developing on the Colorado River , I think. And that's why San Diego would like to kind of step into that that deal , even though at the moment the rules don't allow for anyone to really be trading Colorado River water on an open market. And some people I talked to about this idea that Colorado River might become a water marketplaces , you know , people say we don't want the Colorado River to turn into Wall Street. Water is essential to life , right ? So there has to be some balance of public and private interests when it comes to something as important as as water.
S1:
S3: In fact , if you look at the numbers , back in 1990 , the average San Diego resident was using about 235 gallons of water , according to the San Diego County Water Authority. That is gradually declined over the years. A lot of the credit , by the way , goes to things like low flow showerheads , low flow faucets and low flow toilets that were really a push for the agency. Now that 235 gallons of water per person a day is down to 126 gallons of water per person per day. So there's been quite a reduction per capita in the amount of water used. That said , we still use probably a little bit over half of the water , potable water in San Diego for for landscaping. And so even though there have been efforts to be to conserve , to use less water outdoors , that's still a pretty big chunk. And so I think if push comes to shove and water supply becomes an issue , that's probably where you're going to see the room to give is in landscaping and whether or not people should be trying to keep their lawns green or keep their foliage in their and their front and backyard healthy. Maybe that's the choice that that we have to make.
S1: And we know that San Diego's water year ended this past Saturday. And I don't know exactly what a water your calendar looks like , but there's all sorts of different years. But Eric , you reported on some of the rain totals for our region and it proved to be like one of the wettest years on record , the 14th wettest year on record. And it sounds like one of the reasons for the wetter than normal year is these multiple atmospheric rivers that the region saw over the past. Year or so.
S3: Water year is just simply an acknowledgement that we're going to start counting on October 1st and we're going to go all through the year until September 30th. So it's just that year and that kind of makes sense for San Diego most of the time because we typically have most of our rain between October and April. So it doesn't make sense to start the year in January in terms of water if half the water you're getting falls before January. So that's why the water year starts in October. But in terms of of record setting rainfall , this is what was kind of eye opening for me. You know , San Diego typically gets around 9.5in of rain in the course of a year. We got somewhere around 15in this year , and that's because of the storms and the tropical storm in August. But up in Palomar Mountain , right , they got 69in of rain this year. That is just for for Southern California. I just find that to be an incredibly large number. And I was really taken aback a little bit by that. And that water that falls on the mountain trickles down into the watersheds. And so it reaches it reaches a lot bigger region than just the top of that mountain , too.
S1: So we've definitely covered a lot of ground here , guys. What's next here or what are you going to be watching for when it comes to water in our region ? And Mackenzie , we can start with you.
S2: Yeah , I guess I just wanted to add that these extremes that we're seeing , these worst drought that we've seen in 20 years , you know , record shattering and then record shattering rain , these are all , you know , extremes that we're going to get more and more used to from human caused climate change. So we're going to expect continuous reporting of record breaking , you know , X , Y , Z , that's just living in these extremes as part of the new reality for sure. But what I'll be watching is what's going to be happening kind of on the larger Colorado River Basin. There's a there's a timeline here for water managers and policymakers in those seven states and in Mexico to come up with some really major cuts to water use by 2026. That's just around the corner in terms of water policy , which typically takes decades and lawsuits in courts to step in and really resolve. But there's still , I think , some hope that given the extremes that we've been facing , that somehow will find a way to get to the water use on the Colorado River that we need to be at through just good old negotiations over the table and voluntary cuts. And hopefully we won't have to have the federal government step in and try to make some really tough decisions about who gets water and when. Yeah.
S1: Or like you said , turn into like the Wall Street of water kind of situation. Eric , you have the final word here.
S3: The only thing that I always think about when I think about water from the Colorado River is the fact that agriculture controls , you know , 90% of all the water that comes from that river. And there's always this constant tension between the urban areas in California and the agricultural districts that control most of that water. And I think it's always fascinating to see what the push and pull is there between those two sides. And and , you know , what happens on the river will decide , you know , how many people are pulling on on which side of that tug of war rope. So I think that's always interesting to watch. And so much of it has a direct impact here on San Diego. It's not something you can just ignore and not worry about.
S1: And quickly before we go , Mackenzie , if people are looking to learn more about this issue , you're going to be talking about it this weekend , right ? Yeah.
S2: Boise , San Diego has our big Politics Fest event. It's a political festival , so all of you policy and water nerds will want to come to this one. It begins on Friday , October 6th at 5 p.m. We're going to be talking about sea level rise , first in Imperial Beach. And then on Saturday , we're going to have multiple panels. We're going to bring in Colorado River water managers in Nevada , Arizona and California to talk about the future of the Colorado River , as well as this huge deal that San Diego made to sort of secure its future and from Imperial Valley farmers. So it's going to be really good. And you guys should all come out.
S1: Definitely a lot of changes that maybe could be coming in the near future. I've been speaking with Kpbs environment reporter Eric Anderson and voice of San Diego's Environment and energy reporter Mackenzie Elmer. And both of you , thanks so much. This was a very fun discussion.
S3: My pleasure.
S2: Thank you very much.
S1: When Kpbs Roundtable returns , What's behind the decision to raise water rates in the city of San Diego ? Plus , we're taking a look at some other stories in our weekly roundup with producer Andrew Bracken. That's next on Kpbs roundtable. Welcome back to Kpbs Roundtable. I'm Matt Hoffman. We just heard that our region should have plenty of water over the next year. Here's what Efren Lopez from the San Diego County Water Authority had to say.
S4: Because we've invested , we've done the work in our infrastructure and our reliability and in conservation. As a county , we've been conserving water for over 35 years and we've reduced water use by 50%. Those are incredible numbers and that is what keeps us really reliable.
S1: But City of San Diego water customers will soon be paying more for water. Joining us to break down this increase and why it's happening is David Garrick. He covers city hall for the San Diego Union Tribune. And David , welcome back to Roundtable.
S5: Thanks for having. Me.
S1: Me. Okay. So let's start with the numbers here , David. Recently , the San Diego City Council approved this water rate hike.
S5: They say that a typical single family residential customer , which is about 70% of the customers that the city serves their bill right now is $81 a month. And that's supposed to go up to about $94 a month. So that's a pretty big chunk. And but , you know , the city points out that they're really about the county average is $90. So the city is going from under the county average to a little bit above the county average. That's one way to look at it , that it's not huge in comparison to the rest of the county.
S1: As listeners just heard in that previous segment , we talked about how there's plenty of water to go around.
S5: There's a lot of reasons for that. There's a lawsuit , the pandemic , a bunch of reasons. And then it's about infrastructure. The city has aging pipes because most of San Diego was built in the 50s and 60s , and that's sort of the natural life of pipes. And they're building the pure water sewage recycling system. And they've had to give pay raises to employees because City of San Diego employees are underpaid compared to their counterparts across the region , severely. You know , so , so many different factors altogether. But I would say the aging infrastructure is probably the biggest part of it.
S1:
S5: So that's probably coming into other neighborhoods , Claremont and Rancho Bernardo , neighborhoods that were built later , you know , in the coming years , unless the city goes in and diligently replaces the aging pipe. But that's costly. That just costs money. You need the personnel to do it , and it's not an easy , easy thing. So that's one of the reasons the rates have to go up , city officials.
S1: Say , and maybe some of like the rub here , too.
S5: Yeah , this is this is the city dispersing the stuff they buy from those folks. Right. The city buys it , puts it in the reservoirs or keeps it and then puts it through the city pipes to individual neighborhoods , to Hillcrest and North Park and downtown and where all the residents live.
S1: And David , you reported that in the past , city officials have just passed along the rising cost of importing water to customers. But you also say that this increase is different. I mean , why is this one different ? Is it something that they were saying is like unavoidable or.
S5: This is a comprehensive increase , which they haven't done in eight years. That's unusually long. But generally the way the city handles it is when they get an increase in the County water Authority , they'll pass that by itself onto the the customers. But this is a situation where they've had a consultant study all of the long term costs and all the long term revenue figured out whether the city not not just for buying imported water but its overall costs need to go up and rates need to go up. So it's a comprehensive increase , which they do roughly once every five years. But this one has been eight years , which is unusually long.
S1:
S5: It's still going to be 20% over two years , but it was going to be more in the first year and less in the second year. And now it's roughly equal. That was sort of a compromise move. There were about a few dozen speakers who expressed frustration. But when you consider there's 270,000 customers , I would say that's relatively small. But they did make some valid points. A group recommending low income workers said , you know , a lot of low income workers are barely making ends meet. And to have their bill go up by , you know , 20% mean that can make the difference between , you know , living a reasonable life. Maybe they have to skimp on medicine or skimp on food or something. So it does have an impact on on lower income folks.
S1: And also from one of your recent stories , you say that the city has this rate structure that basically rewards those who are using less water with lower rates. But it sounds like those water savers could soon be paying more to.
S5: They shrunk it from four tiers to three tiers. So there's sort of less of an incentive for folks who who use less. But there's a lawsuit that challenges the legality of the city's rate structure and that even though it's only involved San Diego , that could have statewide impact if the ratepayers who filed that lawsuit win. Their argument is basically that even though we use a lot of water and those people use the little water , we're all using the same system. So it's unfair to charge people who use more water , more money , and that really has huge impacts for conservation across the state. So everyone's watching that lawsuit. And that's another reason also that this rate increase was delayed because the city was waiting for resolution on that before they put forward this. But the resolution has been so slow in the courts that they realized they sort of had to go forward with this. They couldn't wait for that resolution because it might not be for another year or 2 or 3.
S1: And earlier , you mentioned how capital projects are One of the reasons that these rates are going up. We know that one big capital project is the city's pure water project that would basically turn sewage into drinking water. And I believe you've said before on this program that it's like the largest city project ever. And the last time we had you on talking about that , you said it was behind schedule and over budget.
S5: It is the largest infrastructure project in city history , which is saying a lot in San Diego has been around a while. So it's a it's a pretty big deal. It is. It's definitely over budget. Here's one thing that I guess you could say is clever by city officials. They've never really given a cost. Like everyone thought it was 2 billion and then it was 3 billion and then it was 4 billion. So throughout the years , this has been in the planning stages since like 2008. That's when the city council first started discussing it. So it's hard to say exactly how much over budget , but I can get precise on a couple of things. They ran into some problems last year with some drainage issues over in Mission Valley that cost them at least 100 million. And then there was a delay in construction by a whole year based on a dispute with labor unions about how the work would be doled out the project of building it. And because of inflation increases the cost of materials that cost them another maybe 100 , 200 million at least , right , because the construction was delayed. And so it took place at a time when the materials cost more and labor costs more. So it's hard to pin down exactly on the money , but it's definitely going up in cost. And then as far as the timing , I just mentioned , the labor dispute cost a year. This other dispute cost about a year this this other problem. So yeah , but they still again , we're in phase one , which is only about one third of the system. Then phase two will start. I think city officials are still confident that the entire system will be built by 2035. And that's the key to it is by 2035 , the city wants to have this pure water system in place because it will supply , based on their projections , half of all city water that's needed.
S1: And in theory , that might save people on their bills.
S5: So look at your grandchildren and they're going to save. But short term think the people right now are going to pay so much to have it built that it'll it'll increase San Diego's water independence and make San Diego less reliant on imported water which we know with all the dispute on Colorado River , that's a really good thing. But it is going to be very expensive. But once you build the system , theoretically. Next generation. They don't have to build the system. And so theoretically , maybe you'll see savings there. And certainly the generation after that , assuming everything goes as planned , which we know in government , sometimes that doesn't happen. But if this system works the way everyone thinks , the second and third generation , they won't pay for any of the construction costs and they'll get the benefits of San Diego being more water independent and no longer needing to pay so much for imported water.
S1: I've been speaking with David Garrick. He's a city hall reporter for the San Diego Union Tribune. And David , thanks so much for coming here and explaining all that. Thanks.
S6: Thanks.
S1: It's time for the roundup. Producer Andrew Bracken is here with us. Andrew , happy Friday. Hey , Matt. All right. So it's where we take a look at some other stories happening in and around San Diego.
S7: It's the DMV in Hillcrest , and it's just a large property. And apparently it's kind of had redevelopment plans going back as far as 2007. And so it's just exploring why it hasn't progressed , why it's still kind of that same in the same state. It is when so much of the neighborhood around it has already begun redevelopment. There's a lot of progress going on in that neighborhood. And like most neighborhoods in the city of San Diego , it could use a lot more housing.
S1: And there was one quote from Councilmember Stephen Whitburn , who covers that area. He said , While new apartments are rising across Hillcrest , the dated DMV property is stuck in 1960 when it was built. Well , first , I don't know of any DMVs that look like they're not built in 1960 , but when you see it there , it is kind of like in the middle of everything. And it does look a little like , oh , there's a there's a DMV here also.
S7: There's just a lot of asphalt , you know what I mean ? Like parking on that property. Just think of , you know , yeah , there's that street level parking. So if all that can be better utilized for housing for different , for different purposes , you could imagine that being a pretty , pretty cool addition to that neighborhood.
S1:
S7: I think that's some of what Andrew talks about in his story is sort of local city council members reaching out to the DMV that manages that site and kind of seeing like , hey , how much space do you actually need ? We know a lot of their services have moved online , so how they work with customers has changed a lot.
S1: And in Andrew's story , it said that attempts to revitalize this site date back to at least 2007.
S7: Yeah , that's a long time.
S1: It's almost 20 years. Well , 15 years , something like that. Okay.
S7: Mateo was first as a boy's name , and Olivia was the top girl's name. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. Mateo. Almost. Matt , I maybe I could have been a Mateo in another life , but. Olivia. Olivia Sounds pretty common. Mateo doesn't sound as common as I , you know , topping the name for boys.
S7: That's kind of what jumped out to me is because the other names , you know , it's like Liam , Noah , Emma , those kind of names I see around a lot. But you're right. Mateo was kind of surprised me as well.
S1: Yeah , I kind of want to look for Sebastian. Oliver. Benjamin , Luca , Santiago. Alexander. Julian. And what ? The girls. Isabella. Mia. Camila. Sofia Luna. Mila. Sophia. Charlotte. You know , sometimes whenever you see these lists , I expect , like , a lot of Matts or Andrews , for instance. But you don't see that anymore. And I think it's a testament to parents that are getting more creative with like , how they figure out names.
S7: Was it really my wife ? Yeah , my partner.
S1: And I , like , did you have a bunch of names ? And then you.
S7: Google doc involved ? Google Doc back and forth. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S7: Oh , but I mean , I would push back , you know , looking at this list , you also see Benjamin Alexander. There's traditional names there too. Oh , yeah.
S1: I guess you're right. But I think more of , like , an Alex or Ben. No , you're right. You're I mean , I.
S7: Can just say as a parent , you know , it's one of those things when you're having a kid , there's not a lot you can control. You kind of feel overwhelmed in a lot of ways. And the name is like one thing you can kind of just hone in on and just sort of like concentrate on that and try not to get that wrong.
S1: Well , I guess if someone is listening to this and they really can't think of a name , I guess you got , you know , ten boys names , ten girls names that are very popular to choose from. All right.
S7: It's called. The developers now are removing plans there to make 200 room hotel. And they're also backing away from building some 250 residential units that were meant for for middle income residents. There was some findings along the discovery of it. They I guess there's a sewer line that makes it more complicated. But they also called out increased interest rates that we hear about in these dealings. But there has been pushback and not city officials are not happy about this potential change to that. Really valuable. There's a lot of land there and it's a lot of valuable land.
S1: And I think the story I don't know if it was Jennifer's or somebody else said that it's like not it wasn't like a mandatory part of the plan , those 250 middle income units , because I know that it still says that the project includes 2000 affordable units , which is for families making 80% or less of the area's median income. But we're talking about a smaller number of these middle income units , which I'm sure are just as.
S7: I think the mayor says it often. We need housing at all levels , you know , but it definitely affordable housing and it definitely for middle income San Diegans as well.
S1: We'll see if any changes are made , you know , after this has gotten published. All right.
S7: That's a board that kind of oversees some , you know , political corruption and campaign finance. Make sure those rules are being followed. Well , the mayor had responded and , you know , had some new appointees to that board , one of whom is former Sheriff Bill Gore. And the San Diego Union Tribune editorial board published an opinion piece objecting to the mayor's decision , selecting , you know , Sheriff Gore , who resigned as sheriff. And some people , you know , point the finger to him from the large amount of deaths in San Diego County jails , which , you know , were much higher than in other jails in California.
S1: And we know that Gore was like 13 year sheriff , resigned in 2022 , and then the undersheriff ran. And now Kelly Martinez is the new sheriff. Okay.
S7: Cbs8 had a story about one of the only Lamborghini yachts , and it came home to San Diego. It's a $4.5 million boat. It's now docked in the bay here and there's pictures of it on it. I had no idea this thing even existed. Apparently there's only two in the United States. Wow.
S1: And I have to say , when we were looking at those pictures earlier , you were looking at those pictures and you're like like you're like , what ? That's that.
S7: It wasn't a style that I would personally go with. But I'm sure , you know , the owner is , you know , a CEO. He lives in La Jolla named Ace Rogers. And it's a really special looking boat as.
S1: Big as I thought it was going to be. I will say from the pictures you were showing , no , because when you hear about it , you think of a huge , you know , thing with like multiple decks and. No.
S7: And I think anytime when you're kind of down by the bay , sometimes you see these enormous yachts and you're always kind of wondering who owns that. This is not that , you know , scale of a helicopter is not going to land on this one. But it is it is pretty fancy. And it I'm sure it can go it's got to be fast , super fast.
S1: Well , I guess something to put on the old wish list there for Christmas or something. All right. Andrew Bracken , thanks for being here on the roundup.
S7: Thank you , Matt.
S1: That's going to do it for roundtable this week. We want to thank you for being here with us. If you have a question or comment about anything you heard today , you can leave us a voicemail. (619) 452-0228 or you can email us roundtable at pbs.org. Keep in mind , if you missed any part of our show , go ahead and check out the Kpbs Roundtable podcast. Our show airs on Kpbs FM at noon on Fridays and again on Sunday at 6 a.m.. Roundtable is produced by Andrew Bracken. Rebecca Chacon is our technical producer , and I'm your host , Matt Hoffman. Thanks so much for being here with us. Have a great weekend , San Diego.
