Water: One Man's Spigot is Another Man's.....Cesspool

There are days when I think the clowns at the San Francisco Comicle should pay me to read their fish wrap.  Once in a while the thought lasts a week.  This is one of those weeks.  The "editorial board" published a piece titled "S.F.'s spigot won't run forever".  That was in last Sunday's print edition.  The online version I just linked to was titled "Don’t let a few ‘monster’ storms fool you, S.F.’s water supply is unsustainable".  You think hey, maybe the public opinion polls, La Nina, the water measurements, the grotesque over-development or the warnings from Newsom might have sunk in?  Nope.  Didn't happen.  Here's what they said

On Oct. 20, state environmental officials sent an ominous letter to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which supplies drinking water to the city and nearly 2 million other Bay Area residents. It read in part:  “Proposed voluntary actions by water agencies on the San Joaquin River tributaries have fallen short of needed flow and habitat improvements, and viable proposals are not being offered at this time.”

What does that mean in layman’s terms?  It means Bay Area water users are unsustainably and likely unlawfully draining the sources of our supply — and killing the habitats and wildlife that rely on those sources. And we don’t have a workable plan to fix it.

For decades, San Francisco and the Bay Area have enjoyed one of the cleanest and most reliable water supplies in the country, 85% of which comes from Hetch Hetchy. But we’ve taken that resource for granted. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is decades behind other California water agencies in building alternative and sustainable new water infrastructure.

You have to love the unsubstantiated use of "unlawfully".  But what to do about this impending disaster that the Comicle has just discovered?  Well?  Let's get the new SFPUC general manager--a long-time EssEff insider, Dennis Herrera-- to force the Peninsula under its thumb.  How?  Let's start with Green Envy

San Franciscans are known for being sparing with our own water usage. But many of the nearly 2 million other Bay Area residents that use Hetch Hetchy water to are not nearly as parsimonious in their usage as we are.  San Francisco should not be complicit in the extinction of several aquatic species so that Peninsula homeowners can keep their lawns green.

The same fishwrap that whines about how many Sequoias were burned in the wildfires thinks we mere Peninsulans should let our lawns die--not realizing the trees live on the lawns and drink the same irrigation.  I know, it's complicated for someone who spends their day stepping over discarded hypodermic needles and broken glass.  But wait, there's more.  The "toilet to tap" trope rolls out with a new twist.  We get to be the City's septic tank:

Water recycling for potable use presents technical and legal challenges. It generally demands pumping treated sewage into the ground, pulling it out and treating it again before delivering it to customers. The Peninsula has storage capacity for this that San Francisco largely lacks.  Demanding better water conservation from neighbors while partnering on sustainable projects will be a tough needle to thread. Thankfully, Herrera has signaled that he’s up to the challenge. San Francisco residents need him to mean it.

I love that "neighbors" part.  With neighbors like EssEff we should all be getting Dobermans and an extra lock.  With what else they are exporting we should all be getting an extra lock anyway.  SF can build luxury senior living penthouses that rent for $324,000 a year with rooftop pools, but the poop should be filtered on the Peninsula.  You should read the rest of the EssEff BeeEss in the editorial--I don't have the heart to quote all of the "outflow".

 

 

 

Comments

[Paloma Ave]

Hey San Francisco - How is that restorative justice working out for you?

Progressive and liberal politicians have ruined the San Francisco I grew up in. When will voters realize the damage they are doing to themselves, by continuing to elect those soft on crime?

[Joe]

OK, here we go--more asymmetrical treatment by the City:

San Franciscans must start conserving water to offset increasing costs to their water bills starting in April, a decision city officials made on Tuesday in response to the statewide drought.

San Francisco Public Utilities commissioners voted unanimously to declare a water shortage emergency and adopt a system-wide reduction in water use of 10%.

They aim to get there by asking city residents and businesses to cut water use by 5% and to request more than two dozen agencies in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties that buy water from San Francisco’s supply to cut use by 14%.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-declares-water-shortage-emergency-16647324.php

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Shouldn't that be the cue to stop approving all major developments in town that aren't already approved?

[Joe]

BTW, just to be clear since I got a side question on this, I am all for requiring "gray water" plumbing and filtering in major new construction. Go for it. It adds a bunch of cost, but it works. It just isn't going to amount to any real savings (e.g. MGs across the whole system) for more than a decade.

[Lemming R Us]

The monstrosity on the Hower Auto lot will take an enormous amount of water. How are we supposed to cut consumption as we grow consumption?

[Peter Garrison]

I think the real “politik” of the water wars is that if people get thirsty enough and taxed enough the protected Delta fish will suddenly be “de-protected” and water will be plentiful and cheap.

We’ll be able to visit the fish in a tank at the California Academy of Sciences.

PS- Vote for me for King of California and all your dreams will come true.