San Francisco Asks Its Water Customers To Cut Usage By 10 Percent
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — After Gov. Jerry Brown declared a State of Emergency for California's drought earlier this month, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is asking customers to cut back water usage by ten percent.
San Francisco's reservoirs are 70 percent full, about the same as last year. Harlan Kelly, the general manager of the SFPUC, said the severe lack of rainfall requires an immediate need for conservation.
"As a water agency, we really want to be prudent and so instead of waiting until we have to mandate water conservation, we are asking people to voluntarily reduce their usage by ten percent," he said.
But it may not be so simple because costumers served by the Hetch Hetchy water system have been steadily reducing usage for the past decade despite an increasing amount of users.
People will have to do more, Kelly said.
"We're asking for everyone to pitch in. Some people can do more than others: taking a shorter shower, turn of the faucet while you brush your teeth. Every little bit helps," he said.
The Hetch Hetchy water system serves about 2.6 million customers in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties.