By: MICHELE CHANDLER
Published: July 31, 2010
San Jose homeowner Joanne Curme was tired of her lawn and its never-ending cycle of mow-weed-water-repeat. Kim Tarman of San Ramon longed for a yard with vibrant colors. And Arvind Kumar of San Jose had had it with broken sprinkler heads and dead splotches of lawn.
All three ditched their conventional lawns and joined the growing number of Bay Area residents replacing their grass yards with drought-resistant plants and California natives.
Read more at San Jose Mercury News
By SUSAN SWARD
Published: January 9, 2010
John Boyle, a 51-year-old venture capitalist in Menlo Park, built a new home on his property more than a decade ago largely to create a big lawn where his children could play football or baseball.
Read more at The New York Times
By: John Upton
Examiner Staff Writer
12/28/09 9:15 AM PST
SAN FRANCISCO — Julie Labonte didn’t know what her high-achieving career as a water engineer held in store for her as she bounded down Mount Kilimanjaro in 2005, propelled by gravity, in the midst of a yearlong globetrot.
The Canadian-born, U.S.-trained engineer had walked away from an illustrious career with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for a multi-continental jaunt, peppered with frequent climbs of rugged mountains.
While working for the SFPUC — which oversees such services as water and sewers around the region — in San Francisco and its suburbs over a decade, Labonte had managed fluoridation of the water supply, a water treatment plant, utilities strategies for major redevelopment projects and massive sewer improvements.
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner.
July 02, 2009, 12:00 AM By Nicole Sandkulla
Water is in short supply for many cities, farms and businesses across California and will remain so for the foreseeable future. In San Mateo County, water customers are being asked to continue efforts to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10 percent as we experience our third dry year. Reducing water use in the home is an easy way to meet this 10 percent voluntary reduction target and can save you money on your water, and possibly energy and sewer bills as well.
Read more at the San Mateo Daily Journal.
Statement from Arthur Jensen, General Manager
Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA)
BAWSCA supports the SFPUC’s cautious management of the limited water supply and the timely and prudent call for customers’ continued conservation of water and further reductions in water use as we go into the hot summer season.
In summary, there is cause for concern.
* March precipitation was 75 percent less than average and April precipitation was about 25 percent less than average.
* The April 1st snow pack is less than half of average.
* If no further rainfall occurs, this will be the 15th driest year in the last 88 years.
* Water currently available to the City is only 20% of normal for this time of year and most of the wet months are behind us.
* The system’s reservoirs in the Sierras are projected to fill by June. However, there will be little water stored as snow in the Sierras.
* The limited supply may represent the first year of a drought.
* A 10 percent system-wide reduction in water use may be necessary to preserve the limited supply and avoid significant water use reductions next year.
Like San Francisco, 19 of BAWSCA’s 27 agencies rely on San Francisco’s regional water system for over 90 percent of the supply for their residents, businesses and community organizations. The remaining agencies get a portion of their supply from other sources of water that may or may not be affected by the current dry conditions.
In 2005-06, the average water use per person throughout the 27 agencies was 88 gallons per person per day. That’s 15 percent lower than in 1986-87, prior to the last drought, and 23 percent lower than in 1976-77.
Of the water used by the 27 agencies, about 60 percent is used by 1.7 million residents and 40 percent by businesses and community organizations.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Saturday, October 15, 2005
On chloramine
Editor — As a health professional, I would like to clarify three important points that Denise Johnson-Kula referred to in her October 9 Open Forum commentary.
First, there is no scientific evidence that chloramine causes the wide variety of symptoms mentioned in Johnson-Kula’s commentary. The county health departments cooperatively investigated the health complaints made by residents of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. They found no reason to suspect that the change in drinking water disinfectant was responsible for the diverse health problems. The complaints were reported by approximately 20 individuals out of the 2.4 million who receive the SFPUC’s drinking water.
Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle.
Denise Johnson-Kula
Sunday, October 9, 2005
On Feb. 2, 2004, with no public input and minimal notification, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission switched from chlorine to sanitize its water supplies to chloramine, a combination of chlorine and ammonia.
The introduction of chloramine has compromised our safety. Many residents, unaware of the changeover, suddenly began to experience health effects: burning skin; red rashes; itching; dry mouth and throat; digestive problems; coughing; wheezing; sinus congestion; and severe asthma symptoms. Some individuals’ serious and debilitating symptoms were documented by their physicians. Foul taste and odor of the water were also reported.
Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tags:
California Conference of Local Health Officials,
chloramine,
drinking water,
Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA,
health effects,
opinion,
san francisco chronicle,
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission,
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water quality,
WHO,
world health organization
Ken Garcia
Friday, August 5, 2005
I HATE TO throw a wet blanket on the hopes of all those who want to restore Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley by tearing down the dam that stores water for 2.4 million Bay Area residents, but reality suggests I must.
The state’s top water experts are currently going through stacks of research and previous studies to determine the potential cost and feasibility of such a venture — an idea fanned by the staid Sacramento Bee and then carried in an ongoing crusade by a number of well-meaning environmental groups. But after talking to a number of state and local officials, the preliminary results are in — it’s a pipe dream.
Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle.
John Garamendi
Friday, August 5, 2005
As Californians, we now have the opportunity to do something truly great for our state, our children and for generations to come. We can, and should, restore the magnificence of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Today, there is great momentum to support this effort. It is a window of opportunity that may not come again. Therefore, we must act now.
With its great waterfalls thundering from towering granite cliffs onto a serene valley floor, Hetch Hetchy was described by John Muir as Yosemite Valley’s “wonderfully exact counterpart.” Like its better-known twin, Hetch Hetchy Valley was born of uplifted granite scoured by glacial forces, leaving a monument of breathtaking beauty.
Read more at The San Francisco Chronicle.
Jenna Olsen
Friday, August 5, 2005
This summer, waterfalls that normally trickle instead roar, rivers surge through their channels at higher flows than usual, and the fishing is outstanding. Vacationers are soaking in the glories of rivers like the spectacular Tuolumne, which flows through Yosemite National Park, the Stanislaus National Forest and the Central Valley.
Only in years such as this, with exceptionally abundant snowpack and water, do we see California’s rivers and bays approximating the health and splendor they displayed before they were dammed and diverted to provide water for families, farms and businesses. While the Golden State’s highly engineered water system has brought benefits, it has also come at a great cost.
Read more at The San Francisco Chronicle.
