Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Coronado and Imperial Beach lay claim to sewage

"It's a good idea to consider expanding your water portfolio with wastewater."

The epic battle between the cities of Coronado and Imperial Beach for 200,000 gallons a day of sewage from the U.S. Navy landed in federal court last week, after Imperial Beach countersued Coronado, along with a local oversight agency and, for the first time, pulled the Navy into the suit.

The case had been in state court, but I.B.'s counter-claim named the Navy, which does its litigating in the federal courts.

The lawsuit was filed by Coronado nearly a year ago, challenging a ruling by a local agency that deals with jurisdiction fights. The local agency had reviewed Coronado's concerns over I.B. working a wastewater contract completely within the boundaries of Coronado and decided that a 1967 contract between the Navy and I.B. for sewer service established that I.B. and the Navy were expanding the contract rather than creating new services.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The sewage will come from the new Special Warfare Command being built at the south end of the Silver Strand, The at-least $700 million complex will be the headquarters and single location for the command, which is now spread across the U.S.

Blair King, Coronado's city manager (who was I.B.'s city manager in the 1990s) said their concern is that I.B. is planning to deliver municipal services to a project that is entirely in Coronado. The Navy command is on about 10 percent of Coronado's city land, he said.

"Coronado provides extensive municipal services to its residents — including the Navy," King said. "This is a lawsuit over who can provide government services in Coronado."

Imperial Beach and the Navy inked a contract in 1967 that lets I.B. provide wastewater services to a handful of residents — five or six small houses — on the then-vacant land on the Silver Strand. The cluster of residences is served by a six-inch pipe, according to court documents. Once the Navy command moves in, the Navy anticipates a wastewater flow of 200,000 gallons a day — far more than a six-inch pipe can handle.

"The Navy will pay for the upgrades to the sewer system to handle the flow where ever it ends up," King said. "Our understanding is that they will rebuild the main line down Seacoast Drive to Imperial Beach Avenue."

With development planned or underway for two large housing projects along the route in I.B., a free pipeline built to handle more than a million gallons a week may come in handy.

"The state law says if there is an expansion of services, the Local Agency Formation Commission has to review it," King said. "Instead, [the commission] walked off the field." No one consulted the Coronado City Council before the deal was made, King said. "We never considered challenging the environmental impact report because we don't want to hurt the project," he said.

I.B.'s city manager did not return calls for comment this week and the Navy declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Other observers say that the fight could be over the sewage itself.

While he's not familiar with the I.B.-Coronado dispute, Jimmy Smith from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board says that a fight over who gets the sewage is an emerging trend.

"Sewage is becoming a valuable commodity," Smith said. "It's a good idea to consider expanding your water portfolio with wastewater that can be purified."

Once purified, the water formerly known as sewage can be used for irrigation or it can be purified to advanced levels and be used for drinking water.

While San Diego's water-purification efforts have been widely reported — with the emerging understanding that a shortage of sewage will keep the plant's output below capacity — other areas are also considering building their own water-purification plants. For example, the Padre Dam Municipal Water District has been purifying water for years and in 2014 began construction on a plant to produce potable water that will first be used to recharge its aquifer.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo

The epic battle between the cities of Coronado and Imperial Beach for 200,000 gallons a day of sewage from the U.S. Navy landed in federal court last week, after Imperial Beach countersued Coronado, along with a local oversight agency and, for the first time, pulled the Navy into the suit.

The case had been in state court, but I.B.'s counter-claim named the Navy, which does its litigating in the federal courts.

The lawsuit was filed by Coronado nearly a year ago, challenging a ruling by a local agency that deals with jurisdiction fights. The local agency had reviewed Coronado's concerns over I.B. working a wastewater contract completely within the boundaries of Coronado and decided that a 1967 contract between the Navy and I.B. for sewer service established that I.B. and the Navy were expanding the contract rather than creating new services.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The sewage will come from the new Special Warfare Command being built at the south end of the Silver Strand, The at-least $700 million complex will be the headquarters and single location for the command, which is now spread across the U.S.

Blair King, Coronado's city manager (who was I.B.'s city manager in the 1990s) said their concern is that I.B. is planning to deliver municipal services to a project that is entirely in Coronado. The Navy command is on about 10 percent of Coronado's city land, he said.

"Coronado provides extensive municipal services to its residents — including the Navy," King said. "This is a lawsuit over who can provide government services in Coronado."

Imperial Beach and the Navy inked a contract in 1967 that lets I.B. provide wastewater services to a handful of residents — five or six small houses — on the then-vacant land on the Silver Strand. The cluster of residences is served by a six-inch pipe, according to court documents. Once the Navy command moves in, the Navy anticipates a wastewater flow of 200,000 gallons a day — far more than a six-inch pipe can handle.

"The Navy will pay for the upgrades to the sewer system to handle the flow where ever it ends up," King said. "Our understanding is that they will rebuild the main line down Seacoast Drive to Imperial Beach Avenue."

With development planned or underway for two large housing projects along the route in I.B., a free pipeline built to handle more than a million gallons a week may come in handy.

"The state law says if there is an expansion of services, the Local Agency Formation Commission has to review it," King said. "Instead, [the commission] walked off the field." No one consulted the Coronado City Council before the deal was made, King said. "We never considered challenging the environmental impact report because we don't want to hurt the project," he said.

I.B.'s city manager did not return calls for comment this week and the Navy declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Other observers say that the fight could be over the sewage itself.

While he's not familiar with the I.B.-Coronado dispute, Jimmy Smith from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board says that a fight over who gets the sewage is an emerging trend.

"Sewage is becoming a valuable commodity," Smith said. "It's a good idea to consider expanding your water portfolio with wastewater that can be purified."

Once purified, the water formerly known as sewage can be used for irrigation or it can be purified to advanced levels and be used for drinking water.

While San Diego's water-purification efforts have been widely reported — with the emerging understanding that a shortage of sewage will keep the plant's output below capacity — other areas are also considering building their own water-purification plants. For example, the Padre Dam Municipal Water District has been purifying water for years and in 2014 began construction on a plant to produce potable water that will first be used to recharge its aquifer.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Next Article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader