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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPipeline 02 - Summer 2026THE OTAY WATER DISTRICT • PROUDLY SERVING EAST COUNTY AND THE SOUTH BAY SINCE 1956 A NEWSLETTER FOR CUSTOMERS OF THE OTAY WATER DISTRICT SUMMER 2026 This year, the Otay Water District celebrates 70 years since its establishment in 1956 as a California Special District by the State Legislature. This milestone reflects decades of sustainable innovations, community-focused service, and reliable water delivery. Through dedication, technology advancement, and a commitment to continuous improvements, the District has adapted to weathering droughts, evolving regulations, and changing environmental demands, supporting residential, commercial, and industrial growth across its service area. “As we celebrate this legacy, the District takes pride in its strong commitment to water reliability and its ability to adapt to new challenges, “said General Manager Jose Martinez. “We look forward to continuing to provide water and wastewater services to our community for decades to come.” Looking Back On an overcast summer day in 1955, a plumber, a civil engineer, an attorney, a newspaper publisher, and two large landowners gathered for lunch at Christie’s Restaurant in Chula Vista. Their goal was simple but ambitious: bring reliable water to southeastern San Diego County. By the end of the day, they shared a vision, initial funding, and the groundwork for what would a year later become the Otay Water District. By 1960, the Otay Municipal Water District had approximately 700 water connections, delivering about 500 acre-feet of water annually. Much of the area was undeveloped, consisting of scrubland and cactus-covered terrain. Looking Forward Over the decades, dependable water service has helped shape a vibrant and growing region. Today, it provides reliable water, recycled water, and sewer services to more than 242,000 customers across 80,287 acres, delivering an average of 27,000 acre-feet annually. Guided by strategic planning and continued, thoughtful investment, the District is well positioned to meet the future water needs of its customers. It remains firmly committed to strengthening partnerships and supporting comprehensive policies at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure high- quality water and wastewater services. “We thank our customers, community members, and partners for their continued support in shaping the District over the years,” said Board President Franciso X. Rivera. “The 70th anniversary also honors the dedication of those employees who have worked to provide and protect water resources for our growing region.” Learn more about the District’s history at otaywater.gov/ es/70th-anniversary and follow Otay on social media @ otaywater to join the celebration. The Otay Water District Celebrates 70 Years of Service 1994 – Ralph W. Chapman Water Recycling Facility Circa Early 1970s – District Headquarters Circa Early 1970s – Otay Vehicles 1974 – Potable Water Reservoir in Chula Vista Circa 1977 – Laboratory Otay Launched Its Advanced Metering Installation Project In collaboration with Badger Meter, Inc. and Professional Meters, Inc. (PMI), the Otay Water District has launched the Advanced Meter Installation Project, which will upgrade all water meters over the next six years to enhance water and customer service. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) uses cellular technology to automatically measure water use and securely transmits readings from each meter to the District for processing and billing — similar to how a cellphone sends data. The first phase of the project will allow the District to test installation workflows, field quality control, and overall system readiness. Future phases will provide additional benefits, including detailed customer water-usage information and leak detection capabilities. The District will notify customers before meter installation begins in their neighborhood. No appointment or customer presence is required. To learn more, visit otaywater.gov/ami. Become a Water Conservation Garden Volunteer The Water Conservation Garden in Rancho San Diego welcomes volunteer signups for ages 18+ of all backgrounds. No special skills or experience are needed. Join the horticulture and gardening team with digging, planting, trimming, propagating, and caring for plants or join the guest experiences team, focusing on hospitality, education, and supporting special activities. For details and training, visit thegarden.org /volunteer. Conservation Highlight: Celebrate Water Awareness Year-Round The District joined water agencies across the state in recognizing the importance of water during May’s Water Awareness Month. While the month-long observance has ended, the need to use water wisely continues year-round, especially as we head into the hot, dry summer months. Every day is an opportunity to appreciate the water that fuels our economy and sustains our ecosystems. Californians are encouraged to make water conservation a way of life, rain or shine. Looking to make a bigger impact? Rebates are still available to transform your lawn into a water-wise garden. Visit otaywater. gov/rebates. Also, as a reminder of the value of water in our daily lives, below are simple ways to spot leaks at home. Making every drop count matters! Water Meter: Turn off all indoor and outdoor water use. If the water meter’s flow indicator (such as a rotating wheel or flow icon) is active, water may be passing through the meter, and a leak may be present. Irrigation System: Walk your landscape checking for broken or disconnected sprinkler heads, connection points, or drip lines. Watch for water spraying from the ground, soggy areas, and uneven water pressure. Lastly, check for leaking control valves, often identified by continuous flow from the lowest sprinkler head or emitter in an irrigation station. Toilet: Remove the tank lid and add a few drops of food coloring or a dye tablet. Wait 10-20 minutes without flushing. If color appears in the bowl, there is a leak — often due to a worn flapper, faulty fill valve, or loose tank bolts. Water Pressure: Attach a pressure gauge to an outdoor hose bib and note the reading. Shut off the service line at the customer valve in the meter box. If pressure drops, it may indicate a leak. For more information on how to check for leaks, visit otaywater.gov/how-to-check- for-leaks. AMIENDPOINT CELLULARNETWORK SECURECLOUD SERVERS BILLINGSYSTEM Nan StermanWaterwise Gardener The Web You Walk Into It’s early on a summer morning. Just as the sun rises, you pick up your morning cup of coffee as you start a stroll through your garden. Or you hurriedly grab your bag and keys as you rush to your car to drive to work. Either way, as you make your way down the path... something sticky and damp suddenly covers your face. UGH! A spider web. Yes, an orb weaver spider had been busy overnight, spinning his or her gorgeous, graceful web, only to have you ruin it. “And there goes breakfast....” At least, that’s the spider’s reaction. Your reaction is to swipe at your face, anxiously trying to get rid of the goopy, sticky, stringy web. Such is life with spiders. But don’t be upset. That orb weaver’s web helps keep your garden in balance. If the web hadn’t caught you, it would have caught a fly or mosquito, gnat, aphid, or other flying insects, especially those attracted to light at night. If you’ve ever noticed a large, beautiful web strung between branches and dripping with the morning dew, that’s an orb weaver web. You might also see the spider; some have a large, black and yellow body, while others have a smaller brown or gray body, all with legs outstretched near the center of the web. Orb weavers are amongst the most common spiders in our Southern California gardens. They strategically spin their silky, sticky webs near porch lights. Their webs are invisible to the spider’s insect prey. The fly, mosquito, or other prey accidentally flies into the web and gets trapped – just like you did – only permanently. Once on the web, the insect struggles to disentangle itself. When the spider detects the vibrations from the movement, it quickly bites the insect, immobilizing it with venom and injecting enzymes that liquefy its insides. Think of it as the spider’s breakfast smoothie. After breakfast, the spider may repair the web or eat it to recycle the silk proteins before spinning a new web. Spider silk is produced in special glands inside the spider’s abdomen, then extruded by silk-spinning structures called “spinnerets.” By the way, orb weavers have no interest in you, your dog, or your cat. They would rather flee, hide, or remain motionless than bite. In fact, most garden spiders spend the bulk of their time hunting for insects, which makes them some of our best garden protectors – wolf spiders, jumping spiders, and green lynx spiders, among others. Only a few kinds of spiders are a threat to humans in our region, and even then, they most often bite when pinched or squished. Black widows are the spiders that scare most people. These are the classic small black spiders whose females have big, bright red or orange hourglass markings on the underside of their abdomens. Black widows are shy bug- catchers that also eat lizards, snakes, and even baby mice. The spiders’ goal is to eat and be left alone. If you come upon a black widow, it is most likely to run away or play dead to avoid you. Black widow spider webs are the opposite of orb weaver webs. Where orb weavers spin geometric webs, black widow webs look disorganized and irregular. Orb weavers strategically place their webs near light. Black widows prefer dark, undisturbed places such as a closed irrigation valve box, the corners of your garage, or the crevices between stacks of wood. These are places where, like orb weavers, black widows go about their lives, waiting for their prey. Black widows have poor eyesight. Like orb weavers, they respond to the vibrations of their captives struggling to escape their webs. Like orb weavers, black widows inject their venom into their prey to immobilize and liquify it. Unlike orb weavers, if a human accidentally gets bitten by a black widow, their venom can cause serious pain, nausea, muscle spasms, etc. A black widow spider bite is definitely a time to call your doctor or Poison Control. To avoid a black widow spider bite, look before you put your hand or fingers into a dark space around your home and garden. If you see a black widow, just leave it alone. While orb weavers and black widow spiders are native to California, brown widow spiders are not. These African invaders first appeared in California in the early 2000’s, displacing black widows in some places. Brown and black widows have similar diets. They also spin sticky, disorganized-looking webs, but at about 3 feet off the ground or attached to an overhanging ledge, eaves, mailboxes, or even a trash bin handle, where the brown widow can hide during the day and come out at night. Brown widows resemble black widows, though they may be a lighter brown and have an orange or yellow-orange hourglass. Like black widows, brown widows tend to bite only if disturbed. If you get bit, contact your doctor or Poison Control. Remember, these spiders’ diets are mostly what we regard as insect pests. So the next time you’re in the garden in the early morning, slow down and watch for a beautiful orb weaver web to admire rather than to walk through. If you see the spider, give it a nod and wish it a successful hunt. Nan Sterman is a garden expert, author, designer, and educator. Nan leads international garden tours, is the author of several books, and hosts the show A Growing Passion on KPBS TV, waterwisegardener.com Read more by Nan Sterman at otaywater.gov/waterwise-gardener Register for classes and events at thegarden.org or call (619) 660-0614 x16 FOLLOW OTAY WATER ON... / SIGA AL DISTRITO DE AGUA DE OTAY EN... OTAY WATER DISTRICT – Board of Directors The Board of Directors meets the first Wednesday of the month at 3:30 p.m. in the board meeting room at 2554 Sweetwater Springs Boulevard, Spring Valley, CA 91978. The public is encouraged to attend or watch the live stream at otaywater.gov. President Francisco X. Rivera, Division 1 frivera@otaywater.gov Vice President Mark Robak, Division 5 mrobak@otaywater.gov Treasurer Delfina Gonzalez, Division 2 dgonzalez@otaywater.gov Board Member Gary Croucher, Division 3 gcroucher@otaywater.gov Board Member Jose Lopez, Division 4 jlopez@otaywater.gov FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OTAY WATER DISTRICT CALL (619) 670-2222 OR GO TO OTAYWATER.GOV The Pipeline Newsletter is published quartely by the Otay Water District and can also be found online at otaywater.gov. Copywright ©2021 Otay Water District. All rights reserved. Este año, el Distrito de Agua de Otay celebra 70 años desde su establecimiento en 1956 como un distrito especial de California, por parte de la Legislatura Estatal. Este legado refleja décadas de innovaciones sostenibles, un servicio centrado en la comunidad y un suministro de agua confiable. Con dedicación, avances tecnológicos y el compromiso de mejorar continuamente, el Distrito se ha adaptado para hacer frente a las sequías, la evolución de las normas y las cambiantes exigencias ambientales, apoyando el crecimiento residencial, comercial e industrial en toda su área de servicio. “Al celebrar este legado, el Distrito se enorgullece de continuar con su firme compromiso de proveer un suministro de agua confiable, y de su capacidad para adaptarse a los nuevos desafíos”, afirmó el Gerente General, José Martínez. “Esperamos seguir brindando servicios de agua y aguas residuales a nuestra comunidad durante muchas décadas”. Mirando el Pasado En un día de verano nublado de 1955, un plomero, un ingeniero civil, un abogado, un editor de periódicos y dos grandes terratenientes se reunieron para almorzar en el restaurante Christie’s, en Chula Vista. Su objetivo era llevar agua a la árida región del sureste del condado de San Diego. Al finalizar el día, tenían una visión común, unos pocos miles de dólares y los cimientos de lo que un año más tarde se convertiría en el Distrito de Agua de Otay. En 1960, el Distrito contaba con 700 conexiones de agua aproximadamente y suministraba cerca de 500 acres-pie de agua al año. En aquel entonces, gran parte del área de servicio consistía en matorrales y zonas rurales cubiertas de cactus. Mirando el Futuro A lo largo del tiempo, el servicio de agua confiable ha contribuido a construir una región vibrante y en crecimiento. Hoy en día, proporciona agua potable confiable, agua reciclada y servicios de alcantarillado a más de 242,000 clientes en una superficie de 80,2877 acres, suministrando un promedio de 27,000 acres-pie de agua al año. El Distrito se encuentra bien posicionado para satisfacer las necesidades hídricas futuras de sus clientes guiado por una planificación estratégica e inversión contina. Asimismo, el Distrito mantiene su firme compromiso de fortalecer las alianzas y respaldar políticas integrales (a nivel local, estatal y federal) para garantizar servicios de agua y aguas residuales de alta calidad. “Agradecemos a nuestros clientes, a los miembros de la comunidad y a nuestros socios por su continuo apoyo en la conformación del Distrito a lo largo de los años”, afirmó el presidente de la Junta Directiva, Francisco X. Rivera. “El 70.º aniversario rinde homenaje, asimismo, a la dedicación de aquellos empleados que han trabajado para proveer y proteger los recursos hídricos de nuestra región en constante crecimiento”. Conozca más sobre la historia del Distrito en otaywater.gov/es/70th- anniversary. Siga a Otay en las redes sociales en @otaywater y únase a la celebración. El Distrito de Agua de Otay Celebra 70 Años de Servicio Cerca de la década de 1970 – Vehículos de Otay Hacia 1977 – Laboratorio 1974 – Reservorio de agua potable en Chula Vista 1994 – Instalación de Reciclaje de Agua Ralph W. Chapman Cerca de la década de 1970 – Sede del Distrito