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Feature San Francisco's Water Supply Items
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The SFPUC has completed a long-term water-supply plan to ensure a reliable supply of high-quality drinking water for San Francisco retail and wholesale customers. Although San Francisco residents enjoy some of the highest-quality water in the country—mostly high Sierra snowmelt from the pristine Hetch Hetchy Reservoir—our 167-mile SFPUC Regional Water System is vulnerable. It crosses three major seismically active earthquake faults on its way to City taps, and long-term climate change is expected to reduce the snowpack runoff that provides a substantial part of our water supply.
To supplement the imported water supply, and to help maintain delivery of drinking water in the event of a major earthquake, drought or decline in the snowpack, the SFPUC proposes to take advantage of several alternative locally produced, sustainable water sources. The Water Supply Diversification Program would reduce City dependence on imported water by incorporating recycled water for irrigation, local groundwater for potable purposes, and increased conservation to save water. The SFPUC is also looking at the possibility of desalination for use during drought periods.
The Water Supply Diversification Program is part of the $4.3 billion voter-approved Water System Improvement Program to upgrade the SFPUC Regional Water System and ensure reliable water delivery for more than 2.4 million customers in San Francisco and parts of three neighboring counties.
Paula Kehoe, Manager of Water Resources Planning
pkehoe@sfwater.org or (415) 554-3271
