Robert GrahamThe San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously 11-0 on Tuesday to endorse California’s new Bay-Delta plan, which will restrict the city’s water supply. The reason: to spite President Donald Trump’s water policy.
The State Water Resources Control Board is set to vote November 7 — the day after the midterm election — on a new plan that will require the rivers in the San Joaquin watershed to maintain 40% of unimpeded flow levels from February to June, more than twice the current amount of water. That means taking more water from farmers — and from the city of San Francisco itself, which relies on water from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir on the Tuolume River.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which is technically independent from the politicians on the Board of Supervisors, has opposed the Bay-Delta plan. Earlier this month, the San Francisco Chronicle noted earlier this month that the commission was “concerned that forfeiting water, under the state plan, would prompt mandatory water cuts and drive up water rates as the city is compelled to seek out new, pricey supplies, such as desalination.”
