PUC May Scrap Plans For A Fourth Tuolumne Pipeline
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is likely to scrap plans for a fourth pipeline to carry water from Yosemite National Park to consumers in the San Francisco Bay area.
The five-member commission had planned to add another pipeline, but is discussing refurbishing the existing ones instead. Improving the three pipelines already in place would cost $337 million, compared to the $986 million price tag of adding a new one.
The 47-mile pipeline would have run alongside the others across Stanislaus County, moving water from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to the Bay Area.
Environmental activists were concerned that San Francisco would be tempted to divert more water from the Tuolumne River if the fourth line was built. The commission will consider the alternative plan in late November.
