San Francisco declares water scarcity emergency, asks residents to preserve
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission declared a water shortage emergency on Tuesday, urging nearly 3 million of its customers in San Francisco and three other Bay Area counties to take shorter showers and conserve water.
The commission unanimously approved a commitment to voluntarily reduce the city’s water consumption by a total of 10% from the water consumption from July 2019 to June 2020.
This news comes after two consecutive winters marked by dry conditions. The 2021-2022 rainy season got off to a wet start with two atmospheric rivers drenching the region, but the past week has been dry with no significant rain forecast.
“As California continues to suffer from a devastating drought and uncertainty surrounding this wet season, we must make tough decisions that will ensure our water source continues to be dependable and dependable,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
“Year after year, San Franciscans work to conserve our most precious resource, resulting in one of the lowest water usage rates in California, and I know our city will once again answer the call to reduce water use at this critical time. ” She said.
The commission provides water to residents of San Francisco and provides wholesale water to customers in parts of Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. The statement calls for a 5% reduction in water use in San Francisco and a 13.7% reduction in wholesale customers. The cuts are based on fiscal year 2019-2020 levels, the commission said.
San Franciscans are among the most efficient water users in the state. SF residents use an average of 42 gallons of water per person per day, less than half the statewide average of about 90 gallons, the commission said. Wholesale customers use an average of 63.4 gallons per person per day.
“We are in the midst of a drought with far-reaching consequences, and it has become clear that we all need to do more to address it,” said Dennis Herrera, general manager of SFPUC. “San Franciscans have done their part and have one of the lowest water usage rates in the state. This emergency water scarcity declaration will help all of our customers pull together and walk in the same direction.”
As part of the declaration, the Commission will introduce a “temporary drought surcharge” of 5% for retail water and wastewater customers. The surcharge will come into effect on April 1, 2022 and will be lifted once the declaration of state of emergency ends.
Part of the emergency declaration will also include a water conservation public awareness campaign, consisting of media advertisements in multiple languages, urging customers to take action to save water, z said.
Over the summer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on all California residents to reduce water use by 15%. According to the US Drought Monitor map, 80% of California is affected by extreme drought.
Bay City News contributed to this story.
