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| Aqueduct from Hetch Hetchy to Crystal Springs (175 miles) |
"The Bay Area's largest water provider announced Monday that because residents have been doing a better job of conserving water, it has decided not to impose mandatory rationing this summer. But a closer look shows that the agency's customers have saved almost no water compared to last year.
"There's no doubt that we had a slow start, but I'm happy to report water use in the past several weeks has declined, and we are making up for lost time," said Harlan Kelly, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which provides water to 2.6 million people from San Francisco to Fremont through its Hetch Hetchy system.
The agency says it has met its goal of 10 percent voluntary conservation, but when total water use from January through May is compared with the same period last year, Hetch Hetchy customers are saving less than 1 percent. The agency's larger number is based on a 10 percent savings from the increased amount of water it initially projected customers would use this year."
Reference - Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), "Hetch Hetchy Water System". Note: Hetch Hetchy aqueduct distribution graph from Wikipedia.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
3 comments:
no water rationing my ass. I am watering the lawn once a week vs 3 times a week and it already looks brown and shitty.
We are up to the challenge to reduce our water usage. We bought a new water - efficient dishwasher and clothing washer and got a rebate. We use some of our dishwater to water the lawn. You can replace your shower head with a water efficient shower head free from NCCWD. Of course, If it's yellow let it mellow. Does the Fix Pacifica Community have any water saving tips? Shout them out! It's important! Save some water today!
In reality, there is no reason for SF nor it's retail customers like Pacifica to conserve water. They just have to pretend that we may have a shortage so that the rest of the state doesn't get angry and try to get their hands on SF's excess supply.
As of yesterday, the CDEC data (CDEC.water.ca.gov) shows Hetch Hetchy is holding about 115 billion gallons. Which is just two billion shy of capacity. So don't believe the news stories that it's 65% full (though even that is plenty of water). In fact, there another 95 billion currently stored at Cherry and Lake Elenor that could be used - though it has to go through the sonol filtration plant). SF hasn't needed those reservoirs for drinking water in ages so they just sit there as a huge back up plan.
I personally think SF and the peninsula should use as much water as they'd like. It's not our fault that we secured a water source and built a system properly sized for the population capacity of the peninsula, while people out in the valley and down south allowed growth and development without securing the appropriate water supply they would need. They deserve to suffer for their folly, while we shower in our excellent planning.
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