SF Board of Supervisors: Audit the SFPUC on Skyrocketing Water Rates and Degraded Ecosystems
Join our campaign to hold SFPUC water policies to ecological
and economic standards
We encourage you to send a message to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, demanding science-backed water policies and a financially viable SFPUC budget.
Let them know that the citizens call for an independent audit of the SFPUC!
At a time when water rates are set to skyrocket, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) budget is on the verge of collapse, and low flows along the Tuolumne River contribute to the erosion of health for all species; the economic and ecological tipping point is now.
San Francisco’s combined water and sewer bills are projected to increase by 8% per year and SFPUC water rates in other Bay Area communities will increase by 8.8% in July. Simultaneously, low flows along the Tuolumne River harm the environment: the wild salmon population is on the brink of collapse and the scarcity of this keystone species negatively impacts riparian, delta, bay, and ocean ecosystems as well; frontline communities experience illness from toxic algae blooms and water scarcity; and Indigenous Tribes and commercial fishing communities that rely on healthy fisheries experience the collapse of lifeways and economies.
Fight this ecological and economic collapse: Send an email to the Board of Supervisors using one of our easy templates.
SFPUC’s Misguided Water Policies & Dubious “Science"
SFPUC water policies create unnecessary water scarcity throughout the Tuolumne watershed and skyrocketing water costs for ratepayers. These water woes are the result of dubious “science” and conservative water storage based on an SFPUC-manufactured drought plan called the Design Drought.
The Design Drought arbitrarily combines two of the worst droughts on record to create a
megadrought that might occur once in 25,000 years. Simultaneously, it assumes a huge increase in urban water usage, despite the fact that water demand in the Bay Area has decreased significantly over the past three decades.The Design Drought has prompted the SFPUC to create an Alternative Water Supply Plan that
would cost between $17 billion and $25 billion. This would double the SFPUC budget (and water rates) to produce expensive water we won’t ever need, while continuing to minimize river flows in the Tuolumne.
Join us in calling for an independent audit of the SFPUC, as proposed by Supervisor Safai last year.
The audit should not only look into financial mismanagement, but also SFPUC policies that drive poor decision-making such as the SFPUC’s Design Drought.
Additional Resources
Pacific Sun, Have SF Water Policies Led to Salmon Collapse
Read the Modesto Bee coverage of Rally for the River in their article: Green Groups Protest How San Francisco uses river that runs through Modesto area.
