| The cities, water districts and private utilities represented
by the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA)
rely upon the Hetch Hetchy system for water to protect the
health, safety and economic well being of 1.7 million citizens,
businesses and community organizations. Together, the BAWSCA
agencies account for two-thirds of water consumption from
the system and pay for two-thirds of its upkeep. The BAWSCA
agencies are therefore key stakeholders in ensuring the system
serves as a reliable source of high quality water.
While constructed and owned by San Francisco, the water system
was in fact planned to benefit the greater San Francisco Bay
Area population. Several cities and water agencies that are
now part of BAWSCA urged Congress to pass the Raker Act in
1913, the law that allowed federal lands in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, including Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National
Park, to be used to build the water system. The cities of
Burlingame, Hayward, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Redwood City and
San Mateo, along with the Alameda County Water District, were
among Bay Area communities whose support was influential in
persuading Congress to pass the controversial Act, and President
Woodrow Wilson to sign it.
Construction of the regional water system proceeded over
the following 20 years, with water first delivered in 1934.
As the system aged, especially in an era of heightened safety
awareness following the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 and
drought in the 1990s, it became evident that the system required
a complete overhaul. BAWSCA agencies advocated for the capital
improvement program that was adopted by the SFPUC in 2002,
and are actively monitoring its implementation. BAWSCA agencies
also are implementing water conservation and water recycling
projects to help preserve this precious resource for their
communities, and are working to identify alternate sources
of water supply.
The regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people
in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties.
Eighty-five percent of the water comes from Sierra Nevada
snowmelt stored in the Hetch Hetchy reservoir situated on
the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. Hetch Hetchy
water travels 160 miles via gravity from Yosemite to the San
Francisco Bay Area. The remaining 15 percent of water comes
from runoff in the Alameda and Peninsula watersheds. This
local water is captured in reservoirs located in San Mateo
and Alameda counties. Delivering approximately 260 million
gallons of water per day, the regional system consists of
over 280 miles of pipelines, over 60 miles of tunnels, 11
reservoirs, five pump stations and two water treatment plants.
Find out more about the system at
www.sfwater.org
Click
here to view a virtual tour of the Hetch Hetchy Watershed
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