OUR MISSION: To provide our customers with high-quality, efficient and reliable water, power and sewer services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.
525 Golden Gate Avenue, 13th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
T 415.554.3155
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San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Correspondence Log
August 25, 2022 through August 31, 2022
Date Received From Subject
August 25, 2022 Eileen Boken Harmful S.F. Bay algal bloom bigger than expected and growing
California to cover canal with
solar panels in experiment to fight
drought, climate change
Kyra Rice Drop all lawsuits against the State
Water Board
Geri McGilvary 35 Gallon a day to waste
August 27 Judy Irving Drop Your Lawsuit Against the
State Water Board
Carol Ruth Drop Your Lawsuit Against the
State Water Board
August 31, 2022 Thomas Patterson Drop Lawsuit Against State Water Board
David Ryther Please keep the Tuolumne River
Flowing
Tom McDonnell Keep the Delta Clean
Susan Ford Water Demand
Peter Broadwell Please don't cut off our river to
splash your face
From: Geri
To: Commission
Subject: 35 gallant a day to waste
Date: Thursday, August 25, 2022 5:25:31 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear SFPUC,
PLEASE DROP YOUR LAWSUIT
against our State Water Board,
Revere the science, and conserve in a way that protects all fish, foul and humans.
If you can read the fictional OVERSTORY, the dr. WESTFIELD CHAPTER SHEDS A LIGHT on the crucial interconnection of ALL things
EVERYWHERE. And, it’s fun reading.
Thank you very much,
Geri McGilvray,
Every day safety and Walkability
Palo Alto, California
Www.geriart.net
Aka: Geri Sigler McGilvray
Sent from my iPhone?
From: Judy Irving
To: Commission
Subject: PLEASE: Drop Your Lawsuit Against the State Water Board Date: Saturday, August 27, 2022 1:47:49 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
PLEASE: Pay attention to science, stop siding with agricultural conglomerates, and listen to your San Francisco constituents, whose values and preferences you have ignored.
Protect and enhance the Tuolumne River, don’t kill it off.
If we have to resort to nonviolent civil disobedience, direct action, and other “impolite” measures, we will, because politeness has not worked with you.
Judy Irving
Producer/Director
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Pelican Dreams
Cold Refuge
Dark Circle
From: Carol Ruth
To: Commission
Subject: Drop the lawsuit against the State Water Board Date: Saturday, August 27, 2022 6:27:56 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear SFPUC.
The SFPUC could manage the instream flow requirements of the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan without a serious risk of running out of water. Instead, the SFPUC's extremely conservative drought planning scenario — the 8.5-year Design Drought — is starving the Tuolumne River of freshwater flows. The Tuolumne salmon population is now at less than 1% of its historic numbers. This is a huge disgrace for conscientious San Franciscans and other Bay Area residents who get their water from Hetch Hetchy on the Tuolumne! We are writing to encourage SFPUC to value science and become environmental stewards of the Tuolumne River by dropping their lawsuits against the State Water Board.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Carol Ruth
Dr. Ron Ruth
Stanford CA
From: Tom
To: Commission
Subject: Drop Lawsuit Against State Water Board
Date: Tuesday, August 30, 2022 8:51:11 PM
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I encourage you to value science and become environmental stewards of the Tuolumne River by dropping your lawsuits against the State Water Board.
The Tuolumne salmon population is now at less than 1% of it’s historic numbers. This is an embarrassment for Peninsula residents like myself who get our water from Hetch Hetchy on the Tuolumne! I’m in the process of replacing my lawn with drought tolerant plants, and I expect that actions like mine will have a positive effect on the salmon-based ecosystem.
Please do the right thing for the environment!
Thank you,
Thomas Patterson
Palo Alto, CA 94306
From: david lewis ryther
To: Commission
Subject: Please keep the Tuolumne River Flowing
Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 1:12:47 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Lakes are important but rivers are critical to our ecosystem.
Thank you
David L. Ryther
Daly city, California
From: Tom McDonnell
To: Commission
Subject: Keep the delta clean!!
Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 2:38:45 PM
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Dear commission,
Please keep the beloved delta clean, and releases 30-50% of the natural flow all the way to the ocean! This is the right the thing to do. This is the plan! Please!!!! Tom Mac
Sierra Mac River Trips
Partner/Owner
First outfitter on Yosemite’s Tuolumne & Merced Rivers & pioneer on the Cherry Creek/Upper Tuolumne Family run, locally based, mature guides, Tuolumne River specialists for over 50 years!~~~ www.sierramac.com
From: Susan Ford
To: Commission
Subject: Water demand
Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 2:48:49 PM
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My recent visit to Hetch Hetchy was eye-opening!
In a major drought, how can we justify a nearly full reservoir? Forget about farming use, if we don’t begin to evaluate human interventions on ecosystems, we will kill our food supplies and our planet.
Salmon seen like small fishy concerns, but loss of any and many species is catastrophic to humans. We need to be aware and take care to save our Delta and all of its “livestock” for our own future!
We need MORE education and less water use by all - homes, businesses and farmers NOW.
SFPUC needs to act now!
Sincerely,
Susan Ford
San Francisco
From: Peter Broadwell
To: Commission
Subject: Please don"t cut off our river to splash your face Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 11:08:57 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Commissioners -
Keeping lakes full is great but at what cost!
The
Bay-Delta area needs water flowing through it, else it will die.
Similarly with the Tuolumne River, low/no water leads to death! Please reconsider, not just short term, local, spot concerns but instead think of the whole watershed and how to maximize the time it can be healthy.
Thank you -
;;peter - Peter Broadwell, Palo Alto California
OUR MISSION: To provide our customers with high-quality, efficient and reliable water, power and sewer services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.
525 Golden Gate Avenue, 13th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
T 415.554.3155
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August 2022 Form Letter Log
San Francisco San Francisco can avoid a water crisis. Why isn’t SFPUC on board?
Date Received From City
August 28, 2022 Marco Agostoni Richmond
August 30, 2022 Rita Molloy San Francisco
From: [email protected] on behalf of Marco via San Francisco Baykeeper To: Commission
Subject: San Francisco can avoid a water crisis. Why isn’t SFPUC on board? Date: Sunday, August 28, 2022 10:47:35 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Mayor Breed,
I urge you to withdraw the City’s litigation against the State Water Resources Control Board and direct SFPUC to start investing aggressively in water recycling today.
I am writing to you in the early days of yet another punishing drought. While San Franciscans are doing their part to save water at the household level, SFPUC is mismanaging San Francisco’s main water source, the Tuolumne River, and it isn’t doing nearly enough to prepare for drought this year—or in the decades to come.
Other cities have learned the lessons of California’s unpredictable climate and are quickly adopting water recycling to reduce their burden on rivers, while increasing the reliability of their supply. Orange County gets more than 75 percent of its water through its water reuse program. Las Vegas recycles nearly all of its water used indoors. And Los Angeles is on the path to reusing 100 percent of its wastewater by 2035.
But, as SFPUC’s draft Urban Water Management Plan recently revealed, San Francisco currently has no plans to make recycled water widely available in the next 25 years. Instead, the city is pursuing multiple expensive and misguided lawsuits so that it can continue to rely, almost exclusively, on the Tuolumne River—one of the state’s most overtapped rivers—for the next several decades. San Francisco and large agribusiness water districts divert four out of every five gallons of water that flow in the Tuolumne River during a typical year.
This overuse has caused the river’s once mighty Chinook Salmon populations to crash. Meanwhile, low river flows from the Tuolumne contribute to deteriorating water quality—including toxic algae blooms— downstream, in the Delta and San Francisco Bay.
It’s unacceptable for the city with the nation’s greenest reputation to shirk its responsibilities to preserve California’s precious and unpredictable water supply. We support increasing river flows to uphold San Francisco Bay’s fisheries, water quality, and recreation. San Franciscans want the city to do its part to protect the Bay and its rivers—water recycling is a common-sense way to limit the city’s water use, increase the reliability of its supply, and protect the Bay from harmful wastewater treatment plant effluent.
Thank you,
Marco Agostoni
Richmond, United States of America
OUR MISSION: To provide our customers with high-quality, efficient and reliable water, power and sewer services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.
525 Golden Gate Avenue, 13th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
T 415.554.3155
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TTY 415.554.3488
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
August 2022 Form Letter Log
“Tell San Francisco to do its part to save salmon and heal the environment’
Date Received From City
August 24, 2022 Anne Batmale San Francisco
August 25, 2022 Mary Turnipsee San Francisco
August 27, 2022 Jane Varalli San Francisco
August 31, 2022 Gloria Tanchelev Emeryville
From: Anne Batmale
To: Commission
Subject: Tell San Francisco to do its part to save salmon and heal the environment Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:20:56 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear San Francisco Water,
Dear Mayor London Breed,
I am writing to urge you to appoint a strong environmentalist to the open seat on the SFPUC.
The SFPUC must change its position and embrace science-based environmental protections for the Tuolumne River, the San Francisco Bay-Delta, and our declining salmon runs. This is urgent because SFPUC staff is fighting efforts to heal the river and the Bay and Delta it flows into. Because of water diversions by the SFPUC and other diverters, salmon have fared more poorly on the Tuolumne than on any other salmon river in the Central Valley. Those same diversions are causing great damage to the Bay-Delta ecosystem and San Francisco’s salmon fishing industry.
I addition, the SFPUC is far behind communities like Orange County when it comes to reducing reliance on water diversions by investing in modern water management tools like water recycling.
The SFPUC’s position needs to change to reflect the strong commitment San Franciscans have to protecting the environment. That must start by ensuring that the Commission itself reflects those values.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Anne Batmale
San Francisco, CA 94110
OUR MISSION: To provide our customers with high-quality, efficient and reliable water, power and sewer services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.
525 Golden Gate Avenue, 13th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
T 415.554.3155
F 415.554.3161
TTY 415.554.3488
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Correspondence Log
September 1, 2022 through September 7, 2022
Date Received From Subject
September 1, 2022 Ricki McGlashan Tuolumne
September 2, 2022 Virginia Smedberg Please rethink, in ACTUAL current usage terms, your
calculations about
Tuolumne River flow
Tim Schwertscharf Salmon Habitat Restoration
Expert
William Reller Continued Decline of the
Tuolumne
Cheryl Meeker Fix our drought plan
Julie Machado Please Allow More Water
for the River
September 6, 2022 Karla Werninghaus Water
Jonathan Cordero Land Acknowledgement
Maggid Raja Anderson Bad Water Plan
Nicole Kemeny Tuolumne River and Bay
Delta
Marilyn Price The SFPUC Workshop on
9/13
September 7, 2022 David Smernoff Design Drought Workshop From: Ricki McGlashan
To: Commission
Subject: Tuolumne
Date: Thursday, September 1, 2022 1:15:47 PM
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Our broad ecosystem needs to be valued and respected when allocating water. Limiting flows on the Tuolumne is far from the best option when you consider where water is most needed. Rivers are literally the life blood of our state.
Ricki McGlashan, San Mateo
From: Virginia Smedberg
To: Commission
Subject: please rethink, in ACTUAL current usage terms, your calculations about Tuolumne River flow Date: Friday, September 2, 2022 3:24:49 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Commissioners,
Too conservative is as bad as too radical. Especially when it's based on faulty data. It appears to me that you have some fixed ideas that you are unwilling to re-visit even though the actual statistical data proves them incorrect.
I ask you, as a resident of Palo Alto who uses SFPUC
water AND as a resident of California who wants the salmon and other inhabitants of the river, as well as the humans who live alongside it, to have a healthy river, PLEASE take a fresh look at the actual figures of what San Franciscans, and the rest of us users, are ACTUALLY using.
We
have been reducing our water use year by year - we want to not waste water. But we also want it put to ecologically sound use - not dumped as it was in the wet year. The river is not designed for that sort of flow. Ma Nature designed a varied but reliable flow thruout the year, and designed the critters who live in and near the river to co-exist with that reliability. We humans - you in particular - are messing with Ma Nature's plan. You know that will ultimately come back and bite you - along with the rest of us.
cheers - virginia smedberg
Palo Alto CA 94301
From: Thomas Schwertscharf
To: Commission; Peter
Subject: Salmon Habitat Restoration Expert
Date: Friday, September 2, 2022 8:27:13 AM
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In light of the dwindling number of salmon in the Tuolumne River the next commissioner should be a salmon habitat restoration expert. There needs to be an environmentalist on the commission to safeguard the river fishery so salmon runs don’t become extinct. The San Francisco Bay massive fish die off would indicate flows from the Tuolumne and other rivers need to be increased. Thomas Schwertscharf Sent from my iPhone
From: William Reller
To: Commission
Cc: William Reller
Subject: Continued Decline of the Tuolumne River
Date: Friday, September 2, 2022 12:31:31 PM
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Dear SFPUC Commissioners:
I was disappointed by your workshop addressing the design drought. Not by the conservationists, who presented ample evidence that the drought is extremely unlikely to occur, but by your staff, who provided little to no evidence that the drought is a legitimate planning tool. It appeared that many of you had already made up your minds in advance of the workshop. Was the workshop just for show? As a former developer, I know that good planning must be based on a sound understanding of the playing field and thinking ahead. Risk analysis is key. Simply arguing that you can’t change an outdated policy based on the smallest of chances something might go wrong is an irrational way to go about planning. You must weigh all the possible outcomes and determine the likelihood of occurrence. Sacrificing our precious Tuolumne River based on a 1/70,000 chance the design drought might occur (as presented by the conservationists) is irresponsible. If you believe this number to be incorrect, please explain what you believe to be an accurate return period for the design drought.
Without this information, you cannot make defensible planning decisions.
I encourage you to look deep in your hearts and ask yourselves the question, “Will my decision make the world a better or worse place?” I would argue that enabling the continued decline of the Tuolumne River supports the latter.
Thank you for considering my comments.
William Reller
From: Cheryl Meeker
To: Commission
Cc: Jake Sigg
Subject: Fix our drought plan
Date: Friday, September 2, 2022 12:57:38 PM
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Dear SFPUC
We in San Francisco have been using much less water and will continue to do so. We should be rewarded for our work in the following way:
You need to adjust the area drought plan to lower the water in the reservoirs like Lake Mead, allowing more water to flow in the Tuolomne River. We need the salmon to thrive, along with the the other environmental enhancements that and a wetter river will bring.
Also, you should expand economic and logistical support for residents both home owners and renters, to create water cachement systems to give us water, rather than letting this flow into the sewers, thereby increasing the load on the sewage system plants. In SF, even the fog can be harnessed on a residence to catch water, keeping it from degrading the building.
Please use and promote these new methods to conserve water and benefit our rivers and wildlife.
Thanks
Cheryl Meeker
Sent from my iPhone
From: Julie Machado
To: Commission
Subject: Please Allow More Water for the River
Date: Friday, September 2, 2022 2:22:25 PM
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Hello. I urge the commission to "shave one year" from your "design drought", making the design drought a 7.5-year event. As I understand it, this would allow the river to flow more reasonably, and protect the environment.
I am a very careful person, but your plan seems, even to me, to be unreasonably conservative.
“The risk of running out of salmon is far, far greater than the risk of running out of water,” is very much a concern to me.
Thank you,
Julie Machado
Hayward CA 94541
From: karla werninghaus
To: Commission
Subject: Water
Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 9:48:59 AM
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We all understand the need to store water for drought supplies, but not at the expense of decimating rivers and wildlife. We need to limit our human populations—we cannot grow forever—and use precious water carefully. Do NOT take too much from the Tuolemne, Delta, or any other source! It is time to look at desalination and more water re-use.
K Werning
Sent from my iPhone
From: Jonathan Cordero
To: Commission
Subject: Land Acknowledgement
Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 10:59:58 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear SFPUC,
I heard through a colleague that the SFPUC read a land acknowledgement statement at a previous meeting and recognized the Muwekma Ohlone as the original peoples of San Francisco, which is incorrect and actually contrary to other SF agencies.
I am here to help correct the error.
Best,
Jonathan Cordero
From: Yeashore Community
To: Commission
Subject: ..Bad Water Plan!
Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 3:48:02 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
..Hello..
...Your drought plan means some full lakes, but an empty river...It is a terrible plan! I wanted you to know that my family and I will continue to pay attention to your bad policies that needlessly harm the Tuolumne River and Bay- Delta...
....I look forward to your changing the plan for the better! ..Sincerely..
...Be Seeing You...Maggid Raja Anderson...
From: Nicole Kemeny
To: Commission
Subject: Tuolumne River and Bay-Delta
Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 1:58:55 PM
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Dear SFPUC Directors,
Peter Drekmeiers suggestions to reduce harm to our rivers should be adopted; if you understand the critical role of salmon and healthy rivers in California's ecology, you will recognize the value of his advice. Our state environment is taking a beating-- who knows how many more mistakes we can survive?
Nicole Kemeny
“Half of humanity is in the danger zone from floods, droughts, extreme storms and wildfires." António Guterres, UN Secretary General July 18, 2022 ***
Here lived Maurice Kemeny, born 1899.
He was deported in 1944 and ultimately murdered.
Stolperstein (Wikipedia)
From: Marilyn Price
To: Commission
Subject: Re: The SFPUC workshop on 9/13
Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 10:20:54 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
To the San Francisco Water Commission
I have been told that there is a SFPUC meeting on Tuesday, September 13 at 1:30pm.
I live in Mill Valley, CA but hope that you do all you can to protect the Tuolumne River and Bay-Delta
Thank you for considering my request.
Marilyn Price
From:
To: Commission
Subject: Design Drought Workshop
Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2022 12:23:32 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear SFPUC Commissioners and Staff -
Although I was unable to attend the workshop last week I would like to add my voice to the discussion concerning your overly conservative water management plan. While I respect your intentions to ensure adequate water supply for your service area, I would point out the following.
1. Your design drought planning scenario is significantly longer than any other CA water agencies. Reducing the duration by a single year would provide critical benefits to the Toulumne river. Maintaining it at 8.5 years almost ensures that Chinook salmon will not survive in the Toulumne. This would also allow you to attain the 40-percent unimpaired
flow provision of the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan.
2. Your lawsuit opposing the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan could then be dropped, saving you and the rest of us money, time and needless effort. You can have your water and your salmon too. Stop fighting what almost everyone else agrees is the best plan for the Bay Delta watershed.
3. You base your projections on inflated water use figures. As a tax paying user of your public works, I must insist that you use objective facts to make your decisions. It is not acceptable to make public policy based on bad data. If you use the correct data you can easily ensure both water supply and ecosystem integrity.
Continuing on your current path will only lead to a dramatic oversupply, once again forcing you to dump water down the river in a hurry to the benefit of no people or to the ecosystems many of us work diligently to protect.
I look forward to your thoughtful
reconsideration of these issues.
Sincerely,
David Smernoff, Ph.D.
Portola Valley, CA 94028-8113
OUR MISSION: To provide our customers with high-quality, efficient and reliable water, power and sewer services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.
525 Golden Gate Avenue, 13th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
T 415.554.3155
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Form Email Correspondence Log
Please Invest in Solutions to Prevent Harmful Algae Blooms & Fish Kills September 2, 2022 through September 7, 2022
Date Received From City
September 2, 2022 Robin Mitchell El Cerrito
Sheila Ruhland Orinda
Hila Abel Berkeley
Maria Velasquez Oakland
Kerstin Firmin Oakland
Rebecca Milliken El Cerrito
Steven Love Oakland
Jenny Collins Berkeley
Jennifer Rose Berkeley
Anna Hillgruber Smith Clark Oakland
Susan Meyer Novato
Nick Delgado Santa Clara
William Gramlich San Francisco
Christopher Kroll Berkeley
CF Radeker Berkeley
Sejal Choksi-Chugh Lafayette
Johannes Raedeker Berkeley
Abbot Foote Berkeley
Leah Carroll El Cerrito
Julie Twichell Berkeley
Cora Becker Berkeley
Shauna Haines Berkeley
Maggie Preston San Francico
Donald Rothberg Berkeley
Shelby Coyne Sunnyvale
Caroline Koch San Francisco
Elizabeth Ferguson Berkeley
Nancy Parker Richmond
Virginia Van Kuran Palo Alto
Ingrid Taylor San Francisco
Hugh Grew San Francisco
Kris Muller Berkeley
Emily Benner Berkeley
Julia Dowell Alameda
Annie Hallatt Berkeley
Ashley McClure Berkeley
Sheila Tarbet El Cerrito
Dan Bacher Sacramento
Kanya Hart Berkeley
September 3, 2022 Lia Willebrand Berkeley
Karen Roy Richmond
Melanie Bowden Berkeley
Jennifer Fosket Berkeley
Kaylah Sterling Emeryville
Nina Goodale Redwood City
Nadine Gerdes Berkeley
Ted Grantham Oakland
Kent Smith Sacramento
Jim Lieberman Annapolis, CA
Lori Hines Berkeley
Daniel Higgins San Jose
Veda Arias San Francisco
Lena Nitsan Berkeley
Cindy Charles San Francisco
Nina Brunetti Walnut Creek
Fiona Holtzclaw Oakland
Marla Marcianelli San Francisco
Bethi Carver Gibb Bethel Island, CA
Nathan Salant Benicia
Patrice Ryan Sebastapol
Hadley Dettmer San Quentin
Leah Redwood Berkeley
Candace Hollis-Franklyn Belvedere Tiburon
Jacqueline Thalberg Richmond
Jack Rafferty Alameda
Sarah Levin Albany
Joan Jacobson San Anselmo
Justin Truong San Francisco
Dwight Johnson Orinda
Kathleen McDougall San Francisco
Laura Shifley Oakland
Alice Freda Berkeley
Tia Shimada El Cerrito
Solange Gould Berkeley
Carol Schaffer San Pablo
Sharon Radcliff Oakland
Holly Scheider Berkeley
Carolyn Reuman Vallejo
Alison Huetter Berkeley
Ashley Overhouse San Jose
Diana Cordero San Francisco
Avery Huetter Berkeley
Mayumi Krause San Francisco
Trina Lopez San Francisco
Simon Pargeter San Francisco
Mahon McGrath San Francisco
September 4, 2022 Michael Hertz Damariscotta, ME
Emily Roscoe Alameda
Rivka Mason Oakland
Anne Lynn Alameda
Sarah Antebi Piedmont
Gael Alcock Berkeley
Molly Flanagan Oakland
Caitlin Young Oakland
Daniela Nomura Oakland
Jed Waldman Berkeley
Karl Ronning Nevada City
Carolyn Mone Woodside
September 5, 2022 Jeannie Pakradooni San Rafael
Marcy Greenhut Richmond
Peter Drekmeier Palo Alto
Derek Derek Brooklyn, NY
Summer Brenner Berkeley
Laura Condominas Oakland
Elana Auerbach Berkeley
Rachel Sarah Berkeley
Armando Castillo Oakland
Louis Yuen Berkeley
Corinna Tempelis Berkeley
Michael Weber Berkeley
Sandra Emerson Berkeley
Zephyr Taurel Oakland
Sara Knight El Cerrito
Erika Pringsheim Lafayette
Glenn Fieldman Brisbane
September 6, 2022 Adrian Cotter Oakland
Eleanor Arkin Oakland
Christopher Reiger Santa Rosa
Alex Speher Alameda
Kristina Pappas San Francisco
Blair Sandler San Francisco
Ellen Lomonico San Francisco
Jennifer Schnell Berkeley
Sandra Stewart San Francisco
Constance Ralls San Jose
Mohammed Ghaleb Sausalito
Karen Harris Richmond
Judith Kirk Redwood City
Lawrence Kao San Francisco
Katja Irvin San Jose
Aaron Katz San Francisco
Hannah Newburn Santa Cruz
September 7, 2022 Kira Poskanzer San Francisco
China Shaw Oakland
Jean Edwards Hillsboro, OR
Julie Marco Pittsburg
Izzy Nance Berkeley
Cecile Marie San Francisco
Laura Fernandez Oakland
From: [email protected] on behalf of Robin via San Francisco Baykeeper To: Commission
Subject: Please Invest in Solutions to Prevent Harmful Algae Blooms & Fish Kills Date: Friday, September 2, 2022 4:31:05 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
To: Mayor London Breed
CC: SFPUC General Manager Dennis Herrera, SFPUC Commission, and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Dear Mayor Breed,
I urge you to direct San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to aggressively increase the city’s investment in water recycling today.
Over the past month, a large harmful algal bloom has spread across the Bay, leaving unimaginable numbers of dead fish in its wake. We’re still learning about this particular bloom, but what we do know is that San Francisco’s sewage effluent contributes to excessive levels of nutrients in San Francisco Bay that make the Bay fertile territory for the spread of harmful algae blooms.
Water recycling and other wastewater management technologies can help by reducing the volume of polluted discharges into the Bay. In addition, by producing potable supplies, water recycling will reduce San Francisco’s reliance on water diverted from the Tuolumne River, increasing the city’s resilience to climate change effects on water supply.
Other cities have learned the lessons of California’s unpredictable climate and are quickly adopting water recycling to reduce their burden on the ecosystem, while increasing the reliability of their supply. Orange County gets more than 75 percent of its water through its water reuse program. Las Vegas recycles nearly all of its water used indoors. And Los Angeles is on the path to reusing 100 percent of its wastewater by 2035.
But, as San Francisco’s draft Urban Water Management Plan recently revealed, the city currently has no plans to make recycled water widely available in the next 25 years. Instead, the city is pursuing multiple expensive and misguided lawsuits so that it can continue to rely, almost exclusively, on the Tuolumne River—one of the state’s most overtapped rivers—for the next several decades. San Francisco and large agribusiness water districts divert four out of every five gallons of water that flow in the Tuolumne River during a typical year.
This overuse has caused the river’s once mighty Chinook Salmon populations to crash. Meanwhile, low freshwater flows contribute to deteriorating water quality—including harmful algae blooms—in the Delta and San Francisco Bay.
I agree with Supervisor Aaron Peskin that “it is time for San Francisco and our sister cities in the nine Bay Area counties to start looking at what kinds of infrastructure investments will need to be made as this becomes, sadly, the new normal.” It’s unacceptable for the city with the nation’s greenest reputation to shirk its responsibilities to conserve California’s precious and unpredictable water supply.
I support increasing river flows to protect San Francisco Bay’s fisheries, water quality, and recreation. The city should do its part to protect the Bay and its rivers—water recycling is a common-sense way to limit the city’s water use, increase the reliability of its supply, and protect the Bay from harmful wastewater treatment plant effluent.
Thank you,
Robin Mitchell
El Cerrito, CA