San Francisco and the Bay Area

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San Francisco and the Bay Area
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Suisun Bay
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History

• Spanish explorer Juan de Ayala passed through the
  Golden Gate in 1775.
• By 1776, Spanish established a mission at site of
  present day San Francisco.

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Suisun Bay
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• From the 1820s onward, America coveted the bay
  as a great natural harbor
• the US Navy and Army seized the region from
  Mexico during the Mexican-American War
• 1848--California was annexed to the U.S. with the
  signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
• San Francisco Bay instantly became one of the
  world's greatest seaports during the Gold Rush of
  the 1850s

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San Franciscopre-1906
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Water Problems

• San Francisco was a city with an instant water
  problem. Rapid population increase following
  gold discoveries but had less available local
  water than LA!
• Water is salty on three sides. Is downstream
  from Delta in the saline part of the estuary. By
  the time major Sierran streams come in from the
  east they are mixed with salty tidal flows from
  bay. No good aquifer beneath the city.
• In 1850s, shipped water by barge from Marin
  County.
• Fear of fires caused investors to create a
  private water franchiseSpring Valley Water Works
  which purchased all the water rights around city
  and supplied city with water.

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Suisun Bay
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Hetch Hetchy Valley
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1906 Fire
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Opposition to Hetch Hetchy Dam

• Spring Valley Water Works
• Modesto and Turlock farmers
• Wilderness advocates

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John Muir and the Sierra Club
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OShaughnessy Dam

• the City of San Francisco was authorized by the
  U.S. Congress, in the Raker Act of 1913, to
  construct a dam and reservoir on the Tuolumne
  River in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National
  Park.
• The O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923 and,
  after the necessary pipelines and power houses
  were completed, San Francisco began using water
  from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for its water
  supply and electrical power generation.

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360,000 ac-ft capacity
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• Hetch Hetchy supplies an average of 220 million
  gallons per day of exceptionally high-quality
  water to over 2.4 million people in the San
  Francisco Bay Area.
• It also generates an annual average of 1.7
  billion kilowatt-hours hydroelectricitypart of
  which is sold for revenue by the city of San
  Francisco

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Restore Hetch Hetchy?

• Suggested in 1987 by Interior Secy. under
  President ReaganDon Hodel.
• Where would San Francisco get its water?
• Where would San Francisco get its electricity and
  the additional revenue (over 50 million/yr) from
  selling additional power?
• How much would it cost?
• Is it possible to reclaim a valley damaged by
  nearly 100 years of silt deposition?

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The East Bay Area

• Alameda and Contra Costa Counties voted in 1923
  to form EBMUD (East Bay Municipal Utilities
  Distirct) which turned to the Mokelumne River
• Today, 3 parallel aqueducts carry this water 90
  miles to East Bay reservoirs
• Water in both the Hetch Hetchy and EBMUD systems
  is kept separate from Delta water but the two Bay
  Area projects combined with upstream agricultural
  diversions reduced the Deltas fresh water flows.
  

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Pollution of Bay

• As population in Bay area increased, industrial
  and municipal sewage and pollutants entering the
  Bay also increased.
• Also got pesticides, salts and other chemicals
  used by Delta and Central Valley farmers.
• In 1960, Bay was considered unsuitable for
  swimming or human contact. but, in past 30 yrs.,
  water quality has improved.

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• In past 30 years, water quality has improved.
• In 1950, EBMUD installed sewage treatment plants
  but it was 1980 before San Francisco sewage
  received primary treatment
• Volume of municipal waste water discharge doubled
  between 1955 and 1985 but the pollutant load was
  reduced by 80.
• Dischargers are now required to monitor their
  effluent and demonstrate compliance with water
  quality regulations

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• Pollution from toxic chemicals remains a threat
  to Bay--trace elements, pesticides and petroleum
  HCs from a variety of sources--mainly nonpoint
  sources like agriculture and storm water runoff
  from urban areas.
• During the 19th century, huge quantities of
  mercury were flushed into the estuary from the
  Sierra, where it was used to separate ore from
  gold. This legacy'' mercury is still tainting
  San Francisco area fish and wildlife.
• Dredging is also a problem. Sediments are
  dredged from Bay and Delta channels to improve
  shipping channels. Dispose of sediments on
  Alcatraz, in San Pablo Bay and in the Carquinez
  Strait. Eventually most of this material returns
  to the original place and must be re-dredged.
  This increases turbidity of waters and
  redistributes pollutants in sediments.