Issues
Water
After successive years of drought and water mismanagement, Californians will be faced with difficult choices about water usage in the years to come. Any conversation about the future of California’s water resources must revolve around greater conservation and stewardship efforts, greater focus on environmental impacts, preservation of sustainable agriculture and agricultural jobs, investment in new technologies like ground water storage and improved management and increased investment in our aging water infrastructure.
In San Francisco, Mayor Newsom has focused on aggressive water conservation efforts and made long-term investments in Hetch Hetchy and San Francisco’s regional water infrastructure.
Aggressive Water Conservation: Mayor Newsom knows we must all do our part to reduce water usage. In San Francisco, sustainable water strategies are currently being implemented in San Francisco’s Civic Center to create a sustainable resource district, maximizing water efficiency and reducing potable water usage by 80%. The Mayor's Water Conservation Executive Directive mandated all San Francisco departments to reduce water usage by 10% in the 2008-09 fiscal year, perform a comprehensive audit on their water usage and identify and repair all indoor water leaks and improperly functioning irrigation systems.
Landmark Water Infrastructure Investments: Mayor Newsom recently signed a $1.9 billion appropriations bill to construct 28 major regional water system pipelines, tunnels, pump stations and dams in six California counties. The modernization project is expected to provide thousands of jobs for the region and clean water for decades. San Francisco’s Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) is one of the nation’s largest water infrastructure programs and the largest infrastructure program ever undertaken by San Francisco.
Water and Building Standards: San Francisco has the toughest green building standards in the nation, which address water conservation as well. Not only are San Francisco’s building codes expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60,000 tons and save 220,000 megawatt hours of power – they are also expected to save 100 million gallons of drinking water and 90 million gallons of wastewater through 2012.
Emergency Water System: Mayor Newsom and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission helped San Francisco conduct an extensive Emergency Drinking Water Plan to address immediate water response needs after a major disaster. The plan targets specific strategies to transport and distribute emergency drinking water to the public, including predetermined routes for emergency access, identifying emergency water distribution sites and preparing emergency potable water supply centers.
Join Our Policy Team: Gavin Newsom believes that the best plan is a better idea. If you would like to share your ideas and insights on how to reshape California's Water policy, please email us at issues@gavinnewsom.com.
