Laserfiche WebLink
06/22/2009 <br />WATER SUPPLY, cont'd. <br />Where does San Francisco ,get its water? <br />San Francisco currently obtains water from watersheds in San Mateo County, Alameda <br />and Santa Clara Counties and the Hetch Hetchy watershed in the Sierra Mountains. An <br />average, 85 percent of the system's water originates in the Sierra Mountains and flows <br />to the Bay Area by gravity, requiring much less energy for pumping than most water <br />systems in the State. <br />Why do agencies outside San Francisco get water from the San Francisco <br />Regional Water System? <br />San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy water system was built with the intent of serving <br />neighboring communities in these counties, and many of the agencies served today <br />supported the Congressional act that permitted the system to be built. <br />If there is a drought, how is the _available supply divided betvveen San Francisco's <br />Retail and Wholesale Customers? <br />In the event of a drought, the Agreement includes a provision for allocating water <br />between San Francisco's Retail Customers and the Wholesale Customers as a group. <br />The formula requires greater cutbacks to the Wholesale Customers reflecting <br />differences in climate, density and land uses. <br />Does the Agreement specify how water would be allocated amon the 27 <br />Wholesale Customers during a drought? <br />No. The allocation of water among the Wholesale Customers will be decided separately. <br />In 2000, the Wholesale Customers approved a plan to allocate their share of water <br />among the 27 agencies. That formula is based on several principles, one of which is <br />that agencies should not be penalized for investing in local water conservation or <br />wastewater recycling. This plan will be reviewed, and revised if necessary, this coming <br />fiscal year. San Francisco is not a party to that plan, so it is not included in the <br />Agreement with San Francisco. On an individual agency basis, how each agency <br />allocates water to its retail customers is up to that agency's governing body, and is not <br />addressed in the Agreement with San Francisco. <br />Page 3 of 4 <br />14949 <br />Muff # 304 <br />