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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A new alliance of seven American Indian tribes on Thursday demanded a role in restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley, an idea under study by a team of state officials.
Calling themselves the Tribal Forum of Indigenous Peoples, the group formed in April in response to growing public debate about the future of Hetch Hetchy. The reservoir in Yosemite National Park serves San Francisco, and it has again become a serious target for
conservationists.
Researchers at UC Davis and at the nonprofit Environmental Defense produced studies indicating that tearing down O’Shaughnessy Dam, built in 1923, to restore the valley is feasible, though expensive.
A series of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials in The Bee last year nudged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to commission an impartial review.
It was during a workshop by the state research team Thursday that the tribal group announced that if the valley is restored, they want a role in the work.
They also want to be in charge of managing the restored valley, because they fear that hidden cultural resources will be destroyed.
“Our concern is for the protection of what’s there, the burial sites, grave goods and village sites,” said Jay Johnson, a member of the group and a Miwok and Piute Indian who was born in Yosemite Valley.
“As long as the water is there, our villages are protected. If the water is removed, that’s going to be one of the biggest issues that we’ve ever faced. Right now I would oppose any type of development other than restoration.”
The group also said if the dam is dismantled, it wants tribal members to get jobs.
Emotions have always run hot over Hetch Hetchy Valley, and the tribal concerns may be premature. There is no consensus to restore the valley. The state study, expected to be finished in the fall, is intended only to assemble facts, not to take a position.
But the tribal group clearly feels Hetch Hetchy is too important to wait for a decision.
“We didn’t have much say-so on Hetch Hetchy Valley in the early 1900s,” Johnson said. “But today we are here.”
Hetch Hetchy has always lived in Yosemite’s shadow, with limited public access relative to the national park that surrounds it. Conservationists have long sought to see the dam demolished and the valley restored.
The earlier studies suggest the dam could be torn down without sacrificing water and electricity supplies. San Francisco would have to find a new water source for 2.4 million customers, and restoration might cost $1 billion.
“All parties need to be kept whole,” said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis. “There can be no losers in this effort. But there can be many winners.”
Thursday’s event drew about 100 people. It was designed to offer an early peek at the ongoing state study. But most people were more interested in venting their feelings for the valley.
Marty Maskell of Fair Oaks said she has visited 45 countries but has never seen anything like Yosemite Valley.
“We could have two Yosemite Valleys,” she said. “I know we can study it to death. I know there are entrenched interests. But I personally am willing to pay so that I can see it in my lifetime.”
San Francisco leaders oppose restoration but believe the state study will help inform the public.
“I think it will provide information that will underscore how expensive this could be, and how it will affect life in the Bay Area,” said Laura Spanjian, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Others think the valley can be restored with little pain to water users, but with great benefits to nature lovers.
Among them is Jerry Meral, a board member of the nonprofit Restore Hetch Hetchy. He said the hardest task won’t be tallying the costs or figuring how to parcel out the water.
“What I really wonder is how you’re going to figure what the intrinsic value of visiting a restored Hetch Hetchy would be,” he said. “The benefits are intangible. They’re very difficult to analyze, and yet they’re the whole reason we’re here.”
About the writer:
The Bee’s Matt Weiser can be reached at (916) 321-1264 or mweiser@sacbee.com.
Related audio:
The following audio was recorded Thursday during and after a press briefing on proposals for Hetch Hetchy reservoir:
Gary Bardini, Hetch Hetchy project manager for the state Department of Water Resources, provides background on the state’s involvement in Hetch Hetchy issues (3:56)
Bardini responds to questions from The Bee’s Matt Weiser about what Hetch Hetchy options the state has studied so far (1:59)
Laura Spanjian, spokeswoman for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, says San Francisco welcomes a closer look at Hetch Hetchy and its future (:51)
Spanjian talks about why San Francisco opposes removal of O’Shaughnessy Dam at Hetch Hetchy (:47)
John Grubb, spokesman for Bay Area Council, says his group opposes studying the removal of O’Shaughnessy Dam (1:11)
Jerry Meral, a member of Restore Hetch Hetchy’s board and co-chairman of CalFed’s water supply committee, responds to arguments made by John Grubb of the Bay Area Council (2:12)
Spanjian of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission responds to arguments from those who favor taking down O’Shaughnessy Dam (2:58)
Source: Sacbee.com audio