JOIN US AT HETCH HETCHY IN MAY
On Saturday, May 2, 2026, join staff and board members as we visit Hetch Hetchy. It’s a great time of year to see the canyon and hike out to Wapama Falls (or as far as you’d like to go) and have dinner at the Evergreen Lodge.
Last year was wonderful – even though we had to dodge a few snowflakes. We are expecting a warmer weekend but can’t promise!
The Evergreen is a great place to stay – though it is pricey and a two night minimum is required during May (use the code RHH26 will get a small discount).
Whether you stay at the Evergreen or not, let us know if you’d like to join us – email admin@hetchhetchy.org or spreck@hetchhetchy.org. We will send details later but we do plan to be at the lodge both Friday and Saturday evening and to spend most of the day Saturday at Hetch Hetchy.
DEMAND FOR WATER IS DOWN
Water use in the San Francisco Regional Water System is down. The average consumption in San Francisco and among its “suburban” customers has decreased 19% over the last decade, from 273 thousand acre-feet per year (TAF) to 220 TAF – 19%. See Figure 2 below.
The 19% decrease is perhaps even more surprising compared to San Francisco’s projections. 20 years ago the City projected its total system water use would be 339 TAF – so today’s use is more than a third below what the City thought it might be.
San Francisco itself uses only about 1/3 of the water provided by its Regional Water System. 2/3 of the water is used by its customers, organized as the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), including Palo Alto, Hayward, San Mateo etc. (Groveland and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are small customers not represented at BAWSCA.)
In December the Sierra Club wrote to BAWSCA comparing its actual water use with its projections. See below. The chart shows six projections – all increasing over time while actual use decreases. (The figures are in millions of gallons per day (MGD) and reflect the agencies’ total use including sources other than the San Francisco Regional Water System.)
The bottom line here is that the plethora of water storage within the San Francisco Regional Water System is not necessary to meet its demand. Water storage was the justification for damming Hetch Hetchy Valley a century ago, but that justification is no longer valid. It is time for san Francisco to relinquish Hetch Hetchy reservoir and to restore the valley.
