Tuolumne County, CA — A recently completed Urban Water Management Plan by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has spurred a lawsuit by the Sierra Club.
Every five years, urban water suppliers are required to publish a report about how much water their customers are anticipated to need. It is reviewed by the state and impacts how much water can be pulled from areas like the Tuolumne River and stored at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Tuolumne County. The water is transported to San Francisco and several other surrounding Bay Area communities.
The lawsuit argues that San Francisco’s water department, which oversees the operations, has been inflating its demand projections by as much as 40-50% in recent years, leaving less water in rivers and causing impacts to the environment.
It states that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is using two separate demand forecasts, one for internal use (projecting nearly flat water sales), and another submitted to the state projecting higher demand. The Sierra Club states, “Water use in San Francisco and in other cities the SFPUC serves has declined by more than 30% in the past 25 years. But the SFPUC somehow always manages to project an increase in water use. They’ve done it again. Internal emails show their staff urging consultants to ignore the facts and change assumptions to yet again inflate demand projections.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the San Francisco City Attorney’s office spokesperson countered that the SFPUC is diligently protecting the natural environment while ensuring Bay Area residents have the water they need for future years.
It is the latest legal battle over water diversions between San Francisco and the Sierra Club, dating back to the development of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and its opposition by Sierra Club founder John Muir.
The legal petition asks a judge to direct SFPUC to revise its plan. The Sierra Club states that it is not seeking to halt water deliveries or threaten supplies to the Bay Area.
