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.