San Franciscans will soon have to learn how to ration our precious Hetch Hetchy Reservoir water after a 25-year long deal with twelve other suburban cities expires in June.
According to SF Weekly, San Francisco residents consume mere drops of water per capita compared to people in other cities, and locals are saying we were "sold down the river" in this latest deal: An average of 92 gallons per day will be guaranteed to individual water users outside the city, while merely 54 gallons per day will go to San Franciscans (down from the current 57 gallons).
Ed Harrington, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), said the most important part of this agreement was in getting the suburbs to help pay upfront for infrastructure costs, which will give San Francisco ratepayers a break. San Francisco has a long history of finagling with the East and South Bay over water supplies, since gaining the right to dam the Tuolumne River back in 1913. The city has often had large water rations, which were sold to other districts, and now the roles will be reversed.