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San Francisco Water Use Has Declined Since Last Drought — What Else Can You Do to Conserve?

/in , , /by /SF Newsby Jay Barmann

We’re once again going to be having conversations this summer about water use, and hearing about ever more strict mandates coming down from counties and the state about what we use water for. But is San Francisco’s household water use really the problem?

The drought is bad, and it’s getting worse. A big swath of the Bay Area was just put in the “exceptional” drought tier last week by the U.S. Drought Monitor, and the rest of the Bay Area is in the second-worst or “extreme” drought category, along with about three-quarters of California.

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Could California’s Drought Crisis Block Bay Area Housing Construction?

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Emma Talley

The Marin Municipal Water District is considering banning new water service hookups to homes in response to worsening drought conditions. But the move could hurt future housing development in an area already in dire need of more homes.

The move would come amid historic drought conditions in the area, with county officials declaring a local drought emergency last week in light of a “grim and deteriorating” situation. The National Drought Mitigation Center’s drought monitor recently deemed most of the Bay Area as extreme drought zones for the first time since 2015.

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San Francisco Sues State Over Bid to Restrict its Sierra Water Supplies

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The city of San Francisco is reviving a long-simmering feud with the state over water, filing a lawsuit Friday that charges state regulators with trying to take away the city’s coveted Sierra Nevada water supplies.

The suit claims the state water board is demanding the city forfeit too much water from the Tuolumne River as part of a licensing deal for two dams in the faraway basin. State regulators have said the water is needed to maintain proper river flows and support struggling salmon, but city officials contend the demands would leave Bay Area residents and businesses vulnerable to water shortages.

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Bay Area Democrats Want to Pass Climate Change Laws. Can They Deliver?

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Tal Kopan, J.D. Morris

Now that Democrats have full control of Washington for the first time in a decade, Bay Area lawmakers want to make sure they don’t walk away empty-handed. For many of them, that means seeing green. After several years of historically severe wildfires, heat waves and recurring drought conditions, bills related to climate change are at the top of the agenda for many lawmakers with local ties.

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Drought: Big Bay Area Water Agencies Ask – But Don’t Yet Require – Public to Conserve More Water

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

After back-to-back dry winters, two of the Bay Area’s biggest water agencies on Tuesday moved forward with plans to urge the public to reduce water use to avoid shortages this year. But for now, they are using a carrot rather than a stick, saying they have enough water to get by without resorting to fines, water cops and strict rules.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District, based in San Jose, voted Tuesday night to double the amount of money it pays homeowners to replace their lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping, from $1 a square foot to $2, and to expand the maximum amount it will pay per household from $2,000 to $3,000 under the conservation program.

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Major Bay Area Water District on Brink of Declaring Stage 1 Drought

/in , /by /SF Gateby Amy Graff

After two exceptionally dry California winters, the East Bay Municipal Utility District is on the brink of declaring a stage 1 drought and asking customers to establish a district-wide voluntary water use reduction of 10 percent.

The utility district’s board of directors is meeting Tuesday night and district staff members will present the 2021 Water Supply Availability and Deficiency Report and make the recommendation.

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Opinion: With San Francisco Bay On Life Support, Newsom Withholds the Cure

/in , /by /CalMattersby Jon Rosenfield

San Francisco Bay’s life support systems are unravelling quickly, and a wealth of science indicates that unsustainable water diversions are driving this estuary’s demise.

Yet, with another drought looming, federal and state water managers still plan to divert large amounts of water to their contractors and drain upstream reservoirs this summer. Meanwhile, the state’s most powerful water districts are preparing yet another proposal to maintain excessive water diversions for the long-term.

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Opinion: Newsom Should Kill Plan to Drain State Reservoirs

/in , , /by /The Mercury News

On the tail end of the second dry winter in a row, with water almost certain to be in short supply this summer, California water officials are apparently planning to largely drain the equivalent of the state’s two largest reservoirs to satisfy the thirst of water-wasting farmers. Gov. Gavin Newsom must stop this irresponsible plan, which threatens the environmental health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the water supply for about one-third of the Bay Area residents. We should be saving water, not wasting it. Employing conservation measures now will lessen mandatory water restrictions in the event of a long-term drought.

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Crowfoot Calls for Patience with Voluntary Agreements

/in , , /by /Agri-Pulseby Brad Hooker

Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the Delta flows issue has been decades in the making and “it’s going to take some time to figure this out.”

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Rain in the Bay Area, Snow in Tahoe: Here’s When Storms are Forecast to Hit

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Nora Mishanec

A series of storms will usher in a wet holiday weekend across Northern California, threatening to put a damper on outdoor activities and cause driving delays for holiday travelers.

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