Ongoing water conflict pits S.F. mayor against supervisors
San Francisco Mayor London Breed broke her silence on California’s latest water war Friday, saying she wouldn’t support a state river restoration plan that would mean giving up some of the city’s pristine Hetch Hetchy water.
In addition to her unexpected announcement, Breed vetoed a resolution passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors earlier this week that offered the city’s blessing for the littleknown, but far-reaching state initiative.
The city’s now-conflicting positions on the matter, which are unlikely to be resolved before the State Water Board takes up its plan to protect degraded rivers and threatened salmon, underscores the emerging divide at City Hall over how much environmental concerns should interfere with Bay Area water supplies.
The Bay-Delta Plan calls for limiting the draws of cities and farms from California’s waterways to prevent what the state sees as an impending collapse of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The estuary is the hub of the state’s river flows and an ecological hot spot. The State Water Resources Control Board is scheduled to vote on the plan Wednesday.
“We all want the same outcome for the Bay-Delta — a healthy ecosystem that both
“It is deeply irresponsible for San Francisco to take a position that would jeopardize our water supply.” Mayor London Breed
supports fish and wildlife and provides reliable water delivery,” Breed said in a statement. But “it is deeply irresponsible for San Francisco to take a position that would jeopardize our water supply.”
Supervisor Aaron Peskin authored the now-vetoed resolution in support of the Bay-Delta Plan amid worries by environmental groups that the city’s Water Department was impeding efforts to revive California’s river system.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has aligned with Central Valley farm groups and their allies in the Trump administration to create a powerful bloc in opposition to the plan.
While state leaders, environmentalists and fishing groups contend that cities and farms need to make sacrifices to save California’s rivers, opponents of the restoration effort say the proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board goes too far.
The SFPUC, which relies on the Tuolumne River high in the mountains of Yosemite National Park for most of its water, claims that the Bay-Delta Plan would necessitate water rationing of up to 40 percent during dry spells. Officials also expect higher rates for customers as the agency invests money into developing new water sources, like desalination.
The impacts would go beyond the city to the more than two dozen Bay Area communities that buy their water from San Francisco, officials say.
On Thursday, SFPUC General Manager Harlan Kelly wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors, calling the board’s resolution “counterproductive” to efforts by his agency to protect city water in closed-door talks with the state.
Breed agreed with Kelly, saying the Public Utilities Commission should not be handicapped by environmental concerns.
“We must keep every alternative available, including legal options to protect the city’s interests in the event that the negotiations fail,” she said in her statement.
Several supervisors said Friday that they were reconsidering their position on this week’s resolution after hearing from the Public Utilities Commission.
Peskin, however, remained convinced that supporting the state’s restoration effort was the right thing to do.
“Frankly, vetoing this resolution just makes San Francisco look like its house is not in order and, quite frankly, makes the city look a little goofy,” he said. “Besides, I think we’ve already sent our message to the State Water Board.”
San Francisco’s position on the Bay-Delta Plan has been watched closely by those on all sides of the debate, but it’s likely to play a limited role in the state’s final decision.
While State Water Board officials have said they would like to have city support for their plan and they continue to work behind the scenes to get it, they also have said they intend to take action next week.