Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement regarding Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s announced Executive Order that will save water, increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the State’s drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient, following the lowest snowpack ever recorded and with no end to the drought in sight in California:

“As California enters the fourth year of a historic drought, I applaud Governor Brown for his continued attention and commitment to tackle the complex challenges facing our State’s water supplies and economy. San Francisco remains supportive of the additional measures requiring greater conservation and pleased to see that the mandatory reduction targets will take into account the many California cities, like San Francisco, that are making great progress in using water efficiently.

Over the past 10 years, San Francisco has successfully reduced its residential per capita by over 20 percent and since last year has been averaging 45 gallons per person per day. Many of the regional customers also served by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System also have achieved similar marks for water efficiency.  

Last year, I issued an Executive Directive that required all City departments to reduce water use by 10 percent and develop water conservation plans. Our City departments surpassed the goal and achieved 14 percent reduction. In addition, the SFPUC’s retail and wholesale customers surpassed the goal of a voluntary 10 percent reduction and achieved 14 percent in savings, a total of 9.9 billion gallons of water.  

I also directed the SPFUC to develop and invest in projects to diversify and supplement local water supplies with recycled water, groundwater, graywater, and conservation. In 2017, a large portion of the City will have high quality groundwater from an aquifer on San Francisco’s Westside blended in to the supplies. That project is currently in construction. The Westside Recycled Water Project is scheduled to begin construction next year.

We look forward to the details on the requirements that will be forthcoming from the State Water Board. I will also be working with the SFPUC to evaluate and implement any changes to my Executive Directive and Citywide policies to comply with the new regulations, but most importantly ensure we stretch our precious water supplies during this difficult time.”

For updated information about the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s conservation programs & water supply, go to: www.sfwater.org/conservation.