A worker stands by a water main break in downtown San Diego on June 15, 2015. Megan Wood, inewsource.
Key Points
1. Water mains in San Diego broke 306 times from January 2012 through September 2015, wasting an estimated 35 million gallons of water.
2. San Diego has paid out nearly $9.8 million in break-related claims and cleanup fees.
3. Nearly three of every five breaks occurred in asbestos cement pipes whose replacement the city has only recently begun to address.
Katherine LeMoine first became aware something was wrong at 6:30 that morning in May when her housemate, heading out the door to work, popped back in to tell her water was coming out of the asphalt across the street.
[one_half]
[highlight]On the radio…[/highlight] ”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/232467693″
[one_half][box type=”shadow this-matters”]Water main breaks disrupt San Diegans’ lives, cost the city money and waste precious water during a drought. The solution is timely replacement of aging pipes.[/box][/one_half]
She poked her head out the front door of her house.
And then she saw.
“I (had) thought it was a little bit of water, you know? It was like a river came,” LeMoine said.
The source of the river was an 8-inch asbestos cement water main underneath Beta Street in southeastern San Diego’s Southcrest neighborhood.
The main break would eventually spill more than 380,000 gallons of water into the street, leave LeMoine and her neighbors without running water for more than a day (the city sent a water wagon several hours after the break) and cost the city more than $27,000 in damage claims and contractor cleanup fees.
An inewsource analysis of data from San Diego’s Public Utilities Department shows the break that so disrupted the lives of LeMoine and her neighbors was one of 306 to hit city water mains from 2012 through the end of September, wasting an estimated 35.3 million gallons of water in the midst of a historic drought.
Click here for an interactive map of water main breaks in San Diego.
At the same time, data from the city’s Risk Management Department shows that San Diego has paid out almost $9.8 million in claims related to the breaks. That figure includes money spent compensating residents for damage to property or housing residents in hotels after their homes were flooded, money paid to private contractors who cleaned up after breaks and costs incurred in the course of investigating damage claims and defending against lawsuits.
What’s more, the majority of breaks are no longer occurring in the cast iron pipes whose replacement has for years been a city priority. Rather, three of every five breaks from 2012 through the end of September have occurred in asbestos cement pipes whose replacement the city has only recently begun to address.
Most water loss from cast iron mains
Stan Griffith, deputy director of the San Diego Public Utilities Department, agreed that breaks in asbestos cement pipes were a growing problem.
“The asbestos cement mains are beginning to break in increasing numbers,” Griffith said.
Even so, he said the department’s focus must remain elsewhere, in part because of a 1994 state order that requires the city to replace 10 miles of cast iron pipes each year.
“It is unavoidable — if now most of your system is AC — that most of your breaks will be AC.”-Don Billings, former vice chairman of the Independent Rates Oversight Committee
“At this point, the priority is replacing the cast iron mains,” Griffith said, adding that the city has been upgrading 30 miles of those mains annually.
Over the past three years, the city has replaced about 20 miles of asbestos cement mains.
A previous inewsource analysis of water main breaks from 2004 through 2011 found that 52 percent of them occurred in cast iron mains. Spills from those breaks still accounted for just over half the 35 million gallons of water lost since 2012 (the oldest main to experience a break was a cast iron pipe installed in 1905). But the water loss from asbestos cement breaks is adding up.
In its 2014 annual report, San Diego’s Independent Rates Oversight Committee — a panel of citizens — specifically identified replacing asbestos cement pipes as a high priority, stating “an average of 50 miles per year of asbestos/concrete pipe were installed in San Diego from 1950 to 1980. Much of that pipe will exceed its service life during the time we will be paying for the Pure Water San Diego Program,” referring to a recently approved program to purify wastewater so as to make it safe for drinking.
Don Billings, the committee’s vice chairman at the time of that report, wasn’t surprised that breaks in asbestos cement mains now make up the majority of breaks.
“In terms of where the breaks are, you’re pretty much done replacing the old stuff — the clay and the cast iron, especially — and now your system is much more AC pipe and the newer plastic pipe,” Billings said. “It is unavoidable — if now most of your system is AC — that most of your breaks will be AC.”
Billings said the city has done a good job of forecasting the increased risk from breaks in asbestos cement pipes but urged Public Utilities to move as aggressively as possible to replace the mains.
“Our view is, given how much AC pipe is in the system, if you have an opportunity to accelerate the replacement schedule, then by all means do so because the number of miles replaced per year is not enough to replace all pipes within their expected useful life,” Billings said.
Making the change to PVC
But for the moment, it’s the cast iron mains that make up most of what’s coming out of the ground.
On a drizzly morning last month, a little more than two miles of soon-to-be-excavated pipe sat exposed in trenches on 60th Street south of El Cajon Boulevard.
As part of a larger project begun in May, a city-contracted work crew was busy taking out 11,000 feet of cast iron water mains installed in the 1950s. The crew was replacing the old pipe with a new PVC main.
Austin Cameron, president of TC Construction, was on hand at the job site. He said his crew was about a third of the way finished with the project. Noting that his company handles “a good chunk” of the city’s water and sewer replacement work, he observed, “There’s a lot of it that needs to be done.”
A crew from TC Construction works on replacing cast iron pipes on 60th Street south of El Cajon Boulevard on Oct. 16, 2015. Megan Wood, inewsource.
Mónica Muñoz, a spokeswoman for the city, said the project should be done toward the end of 2016. The work costs about $8.5 million and includes replacing the water and sewer mains and individual service lines connecting homes to the pipes, repaving the streets, replacing fire hydrants and installing accessibility curb ramps on sidewalks.
Similar scenes featuring asbestos cement mains should become more frequent soon.
A consultant recently completed a condition assessment of the city’s 2,200 miles of asbestos cement mains — a recommendation of the oversight committee. Once the consultant identifies the mains that have the highest risk of breaking, Griffith at Public Utilities said his agency would “move aggressively to replace those as well.”
Beta Street’s trouble with water mains
Almost five months after the break by Katherine LeMoine’s home, she sat at her kitchen table preparing enchiladas for a function at her church.
The panic in her voice was still audible as she recalled the sight of water rapidly closing in on the house she has owned for 30 years.
“You know I just got really upset because it was just coming on my property and it just kept — you know I’m low level to the ground and I was like ‘OK, it’s gonna, it’s gonna flood, it’s already flooding the yard,” LeMoine said.
By the time a Public Utilities crew shut the water off, some 380,000 gallons had spilled onto the street. The front yard, driveway, garage and backyard of the property were flooded.
“All that asphalt and all that just sunk,” LeMoine said. “So it was a big — I mean you could have had a swimming pool out there.”
Katherine LeMoine stands outside her home holding her niece on Oct. 8, 2015. Megan Wood, inewsource.
City records show the asbestos cement main on Beta Street broke twice before — in 2008 and again last year. But the city, focused on replacing the older break-prone cast iron mains, opted not to replace it.
“You raised our sewer hikes and our water rates back then but why are we having all these breaks now?”-Katherine LeMoine, San Diego resident
Griffith said the pipe on Beta Street would likely be among the first to be replaced when Public Utilities turns its focus to the asbestos cement pipes.
“Now that we’ve completed or will be completing the condition assessment, again, we will pivot to the AC mains — and my expectation is with the history on this particular main, it is one of the ones that we will probably replace probably first, in the early going,” Griffith said.
In its annual report, the oversight committee warned that the cost of main breaks was more than just financial.
“Pipe breaks lose more than water; they lose public support for the investments needed to reduce pipe breaks,” the committee said.
LeMoine, who said repeated water and sewer rate hikes have left her paying $170 to $200 every month, was particularly bothered by the fact that all three of the breaks happened at a time when water rates have been going up to fund pipe replacement and maintain the water system.
“You raised our sewer hikes and our water rates back then but why are we having all these breaks now?” she said.
inewsource is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to improving lives in the San Diego region and beyond through impactful, data-based investigative and accountability journalism.
Our Vision
Betrayals of the public trust are revealed and rectified, wrongdoing is deterred, and inequities are illuminated thanks to inewsource’s deep, dogged, fact-based reporting.
Our Values
Truth: Above all else, we value the importance of a free and credible press. Truth is the cornerstone of democracy and the core value for inewsource.
Transparency: We build trust with our readers by adhering to the highest standards and ethics, and to reporting with facts, precision and context.
Collaboration: Our newsroom prioritizes collaboration over competition. We regularly partner with media outlets on reporting projects and to share content.
Community: Our reporting serves the San Diego region, and we strive to build relationships with our audience by getting out into the community to listen and engage.
Ethics Policy
inewsource will conduct its business with the highest standards of decency, fairness and accuracy. These standards shall apply equally to inewsource employees, freelancers and all others engaged in gathering information on behalf of inewsource. All receive a copy of these ethical standards.
In the course of our reporting, we will consistently:
● Identify our organization and ourselves fully and avoid false representations of any kind to any source.
● Obtain consent from all parties before electronically recording any interview or conversation except in extraordinary cases authorized by the Managing Editor and Editor. If a source refuses to be taped, that must be honored; no recordings are to be made without consent.
● Respect the individual’s right to privacy. inewsource will never manipulate or barter private, personal, health, financial or other extraneous information in the course of preparing its reports.
● Any source we describe or write about in any significant manner must be contacted. The employee should document all efforts to contact the source, and if unsuccessful, should summarize these efforts at contact in the body of his/her writing.
In addition, inewsource follows the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists. The latest version, revised in 2014, can be found here.
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We will maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Our organization also may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $1,000 or more. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.
Diversity
Diverse Voices
Inclusiveness is at the heart of thinking and acting as journalists, and it supports the educational mandate of inewsource. Race, class, generation, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and geography all affect point of view. inewsource believes that reflecting societal differences in reporting leads to better, more nuanced stories and a better-informed community.
inewsource is committed to employment equity and diversity.
Diverse Staffing Report
Below is a breakdown of staffing data at inewsource. We determine the composition of our staff by asking them to self-identify. It is based on a newsroom of 11 and a total staff of 15 as of August 2020. Percentages are based on 15 total survey responses. The numbers include full-time and part-time staff, full-time fellows and full-time and part-time interns.
All Staff Percentages are based on 15 total survey responses. The numbers include full-time and part-time staff, full-time fellows and full-time and part-time interns.
Newsroom Percentages are based on 15 completed survey responses to this question.
Business Percentages are based on 15 completed survey responses to this question.
Gender Identity
Gender Identity
Gender Identity
Women
80%
Women
82%
Women
75%
Men
20%
Men
18%
Men
25%
Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation
Straight
87%
Straight
82%
Straight
100%
LGBTQ-identifying
7%
LGBTQ-identifying
7%
Not specified
7%
Not specified
7%
Speak a language beyond English at home
33%
Speak a language beyond English at home
18%
Speak a language beyond English at home
75%
Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity
White
67%
White
73%
White
50%
Hispanic or Latinx
20%
Two or more races
18%
Hispanic or Latinx
50%
Two or more races
13%
Hispanic or Latinx
9%
Age
Age
Age
20-29
40%
20-29
45%
20-29
25%
30-39
47%
30-39
45%
30-39
50%
60 or older
13%
60 or older
9%
60 or older
25%
* The percentages in the charts have been rounded and may not add up to 100.
Ownership Structure, Funding and Grants
inewsource is a nonprofit organization, whose legal name is Investigative Newsource. It does business as inewsource. The business was incorporated on Aug. 4, 2009 in the state of California. Tax-exempt status as a 501c3 was granted by the IRS on Sept. 15, 2010. inewsource is funded primarily by individual contributions and foundation grants. We are guided by a board of directors.
Editorial independence: Journalists employed by inewsource take no editorial direction from donors whose contributions may support the organization. inewsource will not hesitate to report on its donors when events warrant. Our Editorial Independence Policy details the firewall between journalism and revenue.
To be transparent with the public, inewsourcelists its donors on its website. In cases where a donor is the subject of an inewsource story, additional disclosure will be made.
Financial Documents
We do our due diligence to earn your trust in our reporting, as well as in our governance and financial sustainability. All of our financial documents are made available to view so that our supporters can trust we are sound stewards of your philanthropy. Review our IRS Form 990s, audited financial statements and annual reports:
Transparency is one of our core values. Today, there is a need to build trust with our audience because new media and ways of communicating spread lies and slanted news faster than “real” news. At the same time, this era of new technologies makes it easier than ever for news organizations to be transparent. People don’t just have to believe us, they can investigate our investigations with our source materials.
Transparency is key to building credibility.
inewsource reporters have primary responsibility for reporting, writing, and fact-checking their stories. But before a story is published, the reporter reviews all facts and sources with an editor or another reporter. Facts must be traced to a primary source.
In addition, we “transparify” certain investigative stories. This process involves publishing a version of the web story with hyperlinks to all the story’s facts. This is proof that all facts have been documented with primary evidence. We do this to build trust with our readers and to be as transparent as we hope the public figures and institutions that we hold accountable will be.
Unnamed Sources
Not all sources are created equal. Some sources cannot speak authoritatively, provide proper analysis or speak specifically to every inquiry placed before them. To maintain the integrity of our reporting, inewsource reporters must select sources who can speak with validity to the topic at hand, and avoid presenting unqualified or underqualified sources as experts.
If an interviewed source has a conflict of interest, or whose qualifications may be tangential or limited, reporters will note that within the context of the story.
It is incumbent upon reporters to fully background their sources to uncover conflicts of interest or slant prior to using them in a story.
Unless discussed prior to an interview, all subjects talking to inewsource journalists are on the record. Specifically, the source is identified by name and title, and their exact or paraphrased words are attributed to them for publication. If journalists speak with sources who are not politicians, public figures or those not commonly interviewed by journalists, staff should explain clearly that information discussed will be on the record and for publication.
There are times, however, when information may be critical for a story but cannot be found or verified by other means. For example, a source may be able to confirm specific information about a series of events they may have witnessed, but have legitimate concerns about using their name or title. The repercussions to the source could be legal, job-related retribution or personal safety. The source and journalist must discuss these potential dangers and terms of use should be agreed upon by both parties.
If inewsource publishes information from an anonymous source, inewsource will explain to readers, in as much detail as possible, why we agreed to anonymity.
Corrections and Clarifications
inewsource strives for accuracy in everything we do, which is why we are committed to fact checking our content. But sometimes we make errors. When that happens, we correct them. We also clarify stories when something we’ve written is confusing or could be misinterpreted.
We endeavor to always be transparent about our commitment to correcting errors and clarifying misperceptions. When staffers see, hear or read about a possible issue with the accuracy of any inewsource content, they are expected to bring it to the attention of an editor and the web producer so it can be evaluated to determine how to proceed.
Including the web producer is key because inewsource is a multimedia news organization and shares its content with multiple partners on multiple platforms. The web producer must alert these partners about corrections and clarifications.
Corrections and clarifications should be included at the bottom of stories and dated.
Actionable Feedback and Newsroom Contacts
Our audiences know the region we cover and have a stake in maintaining and improving the quality of life in San Diego and Imperial counties. We know your knowledge and insights can help shape what we cover and how we cover it. We invite your comments and complaints on news stories, suggestions for issues to cover or sources to consult. We rely on you to tell us when we get it right and when we need to keep pushing.
Your comments, questions and suggestions can be sent to the team as a whole at contact@inewsource.org or you can contact a specific member of our staff.
Lorie Hearn is the chief executive officer, editor and founder of inewsource. She founded inewsource in the summer of 2009, following a successful reporting and editing career in newspapers. She retired from The San Diego Union-Tribune, where she had been a reporter, Metro Editor and finally the senior editor for Metro and Watchdog Journalism. In addition to department oversight, Hearn personally managed a four-person watchdog team, composed of two data specialists and two investigative reporters. Hearn was a Nieman Foundation fellow at Harvard University in 1994-95. She focused on juvenile justice and drug control policy, a natural course to follow her years as a courts and legal affairs reporter at the San Diego Union and then the Union-Tribune.
Hearn became Metro Editor in 1999 and oversaw regional and city news coverage, which included the city of San Diego’s financial debacle and near bankruptcy. Reporters and editors on Metro during her tenure were part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stories that exposed Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham and led to his imprisonment.
Hearn began her journalism career as a reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times, a small daily outside of Philadelphia, shortly after graduating from the University of Delaware. During the decades following, she moved through countless beats at five newspapers on both coasts.
High-profile coverage included the historic state Supreme Court election in 1986, when three sitting justices were ousted from the bench, and the 1992 execution of Robert Alton Harris. That gas chamber execution was the first time the death penalty was carried out in California in 25 years.
In her nine years as Metro Editor at the Union-Tribune, Hearn made watchdog reporting a priority. Her reporters produced award-winning investigations covering large and small local governments. The depth and breadth of their public service work was most evident in coverage of the wildfires of 2003 and then 2007, when more than half a million people were evacuated from their homes.
Laura Wingard is the managing editor at inewsource. She has been an editor in San Diego since 2002, working at The San Diego Union-Tribune, KPBS and now inewsource. At the Union-Tribune, she served in a variety of roles including as enterprise editor, government editor, public safety and legal affairs editor, and metro editor. She directed the newspaper’s award-winning coverage of the October 2007 wildfires and the 2010 disappearance of Poway teenager Chelsea King. She also oversaw reporting on San Diego’s pension crisis.
For two years, Wingard was news and digital editor at KPBS, overseeing a team of four multimedia reporters and two web producers. She also was the KPBS liaison with inewsource and collaborated with inewsource chief executive officer and editor Lorie Hearn on investigative work by both news organizations.
Wingard also worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal as the city editor and as an award-winning reporter covering the environment and politics. She also was the assistant managing editor for metro at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside. She earned her bachelor’s degree at California State University, Fullerton, with a double major in communications/journalism and political science.
Brad Racino is the assistant editor and a senior reporter at inewsource. He has produced investigations for print, radio and TV on topics including political corruption, transportation, health, maritime, education and nonprofits.
His cross-platform reporting for inewsource has earned more than 50 awards since 2012, including back-to-back national medals from Investigative Reporters and Editors, two national Edward R. Murrow awards, a Meyer “Mike” Berger award from New York City’s Columbia Journalism School, the Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism, San Diego SPJ’s First Amendment Award, and a national Emmy nomination.
In 2017, Racino was selected by the Institute for Nonprofit News as one of 10 “Emerging Leaders” in U.S. nonprofit journalism.
Racino has worked as a reporter and database analyst for News21; as a photographer, videographer and reporter for the Columbia Missourian; as a project coordinator for the National Freedom of Information Coalition and as a videographer and editor for Verizon Fios1 TV in New York. He received his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 2012.
Byline Policy
Most of our articles carry a byline to identify the author. In some cases, inewsource will use a brand byline such as “Staff” or “inewsource” for internal or editorial information about the newsroom. In these instances, inewsource‘s Editor and Managing Editor are responsible for content that uses a brand byline.
The Trust Project
inewsource is proud to be a member of The Trust Project and support efforts to increase transparency in journalism by displaying the 8 Trust Indicators on our stories. We launched the Trust Indicators on Sep. 16, 2020.
Privacy Policy
inewsource has prepared this Privacy Policy to explain how we collect, use, protect, and share information when you use our inewsource.org website (the “Site“) or when you use any of our services (the “Services“).
By using the Site or Services you consent to this Privacy Policy.
Log Data
Like many site operators, we collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our site (“Log Data”).
This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages and other statistics.
Cookies
Cookies are files with small amount of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a web site and stored on your computer or mobile device.
Like many sites, we use “cookies” to collect information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our site.
Certain pages on our site may set other third party cookies. For example, we may embed content, such as videos, from another site that sets a cookie. While we try to minimize these third party cookies, we can’t always control what cookies this third party content sets.
Additionally, we may use third party services — such as those that provide social media conveniences, measure traffic, send newsletters and facilitate donations — that may place cookies on your computer. We don’t have any way of knowing how such services handle the resulting data internally. inewsource makes no claim, nor takes liability for the insecure submission of information via these applications.
Here are the services whose cookies you can find on inewsource.org:
Sharing buttons for Facebook and Twitter. These use the standard scripts provided by each company.
Google Analytics, which we use to measure site traffic. Google Analytics gathers certain non-personally identifying information over time, such as your IP address, browser type, internet service provider, referring and exit pages, time stamp, and similar data. We also use Facebook Pixel to measure, optimize and build audiences for advertising campaigns served on Facebook. In particular it enables us to see how our users move between devices when accessing our website and Facebook, to ensure that our Facebook advertising is seen by our users most likely to be interested in such advertising by analyzing which content a user has viewed and interacted with on our website.
Stripe, which allows us to accept donations through our website.
Salesforce to manage newsletter subscriber, donor, and other identifiable user data.
Mailchimp, to manage newsletter distributions. We collect your email address if you choose to subscribe to one of our email newsletters or email news alerts. Other optional information that you enter when subscribing – such as your first and last names or city are simply so that we can deliver more personalized email newsletters. We DO NOT sell, rent or market your information to any other parties. We retain your information only as long as necessary to provide your service. When we send emails, it collects some data about which users open the emails and which links are clicked. We use this information to optimize our email newsletters and, as aggregate information, to explain what percentage of our users open and interact with our newsletters.
Personal Data
We only collect personally identifiable information such as your name and email address when you sign up for a newsletter, donate to our organization, or otherwise submit it to us voluntarily. We do not share your personal data with any third parties other than some common service providers, whose products use your information to help us improve our site, deliver newsletters, or allow us to offer donation opportunities.
inewsource limits access to all user data for the purposes of newsletter, fundraising, and customer service only. User data is not sold to or otherwise shared with anyone not working with or for the inewsource.
You may unsubscribe or opt-out of our email and mail communications at any time by hitting the “unsubscribe” button in any email you receive from inewsource, or by emailing us at contact@inewsource.org or calling us at 619-594-5100.
Donor Information
The identities of all donors will be listed on our website. inewsource does not share, trade, sell, or otherwise release donors’ personal information to any third parties.
Refunds
If you encounter errors when donating on the website, please contact us at members@inewsource.org. For example, if you submit a donation for an incorrect amount or make a duplicate transaction please email us immediately so we can reverse the charges.
Cancellation of Recurring Donations
You can cancel your monthly recurring donations free of charge by notifying us at members@inewsource.org.
Links to Other Websites
Our site may contain links to documents, resources or other websites that we think may be of interest to you. We have no control over these other sites or their content. You should be aware when you leave our site for another, and remember that other sites are governed by their own user agreements and privacy policies, which should be available to you to read.
Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
Although we take reasonable steps to prevent the introduction of viruses, worms, “Trojan Horses” or other destructive materials to our site, we do not guarantee or warrant that our site or materials that may be downloaded from our site are free from such destructive features. We are not liable for any damages or harm attributable to such features. We are not liable for any claim, loss or injust based on errors, omissions, interruptions or other inaccuracies on our site, nor for any claim, loss or injust that results from your use of this site or your breach of any provision of this User Agreement.
Contact Us
If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy, please contact us at contact@inewsource.org or call us at 619-594-5100.
Joe Yerardi is a freelance data journalist for inewsource, where he worked between 2013 and 2016 as an investigative reporter and data specialist. To contact him with questions, tips or corrections, email joe.yerardi@gmail.com.
More by Joe Yerardi