Diversion from Reality

How water diversion from the San Francisco Bay is hurting you and the animals

Imagine This:

It's another hot day in San Francisco. Carl the fog has receded, and the sun is shining throughout the city. You go to your sink to grab a fresh, cold glass of water.

Have you ever wondered where that glass of water comes from?

In San Francisco, your water comes from the Hetch Hetchy water system, one of the many reservoirs that collect and diverts fresh water from reaching the San Francisco estuary system: the body of water where freshwater meets the sea.

The system seesm great—direct and plentiful water access.

However, this water source is not infinite, and what water is quenching our thirst, is starving another's.

The Problem

When we take water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, we are diverting water that would otherwise make its way to the San Francisco Estuary.

Without this freshwater, marine organisms like Chinook Salmon, Delta Smelt, and Striped Bass are suffering.

Why?

Think about us humans: we need oxygen to survive. 21% of the air is composed of oxygen. Let's say that the oxygen supply was cut in half. We wouldn't have enough oxygen to breathe, which would be fatal.

It's the same way for some aquatic life: freshwater is their oxygen. They need freshwater to survive, but water diversion is changing the balance, over-salinating the environment, and making it harder for them to "breathe."

Pollution and sediments build up and also disrupt the ecosystem. Normally, freshwater inputs would flush out these buildups, but with freshwater decreases, there are very rarely good conditions in the estuary anymore.

Subsidence Fishing (fishing for personal consumption)

Conditions have become so bad, that conservation organizations such as the Bay Insitute are researching to identify keystone species to attempt to keep alive, rather than allow their populations to grow.

This impacts us too: water quality is declining which harms subsistence fishing and drinking water quality for everyone.

It all stems from water use

So what do we do? We cannot stop drinking water.

Well, our water use does not stop at drinking. California uses excessive amounts of water for lawns, agriculture, and personal use such as showers. According to Gary Bobker, the program director at the Bay Institute, the main contributor to excessive water use is large-scale agriculture and industrial processes. These systems use and pollute the water. Policymakers know that these issues exist and are destroying the bay, and they also know what to do to fix it; however, there is limited constituent awareness and support for the issue so no actions are being taken.

Goal State

Right now, the San Francisco Estuary is on the brink of total collapse. There are multiple vulnerable species that if they decline any further, the larger ecosystem will suffer. This includes the larger marine animals we know and love like whales, seals, and shorebirds. These animals will not have enough food, and will at best leave the region to find food or, at worst, die from starvation.

In order to address these issues, policy needs to be put in place to better regulate and reduce freshwater use and increase the watershed allocated to the San Francisco estuary system.

Current Actions

The Bay Institute is one of the leading organizations addressing this issue. Some of the actions they have done include:

Petitioning to get species and habitat protected

Recommend actions to administration

Work with water districts, water agencies, and river systems to form agreements on restoration regimes for watershed

Tracking status of the ecosystem, management, and actions

Obstacles

  • The estuary issue is complex and can be challenging to articulate to the general public.
  • fewer public resources explaining the issue compared to those that derive economic benefit from destroying the estuary
  • people do not view the estuary (and connecting delta and bay) with the same "awe" factor as say Yosemite, which makes it more difficult to get people to care about the issue

What You Can Do

  •  Educate yourself and others - education is the easiest and most important way to make a difference.
  • Use less water on showers and lawns: although the main contributors to the issue are not individuals, it does not hurt to decrease your water use. Do this by taking shorter showers or watering your lawn less
  • Raise awareness through protests, social media, talking with others
  •  Contact your representatives - get together with some friends and write to you representatives demanding change

Credits

This story was produced by Stephanie Froebel. A special thanks to Gary Bobker, National Geographic, The Nature Conservancy, and Paragon One.

Photographs

Stephanie Froebel, stock images from Envato Elements

Interview

Gary Bobker, Director at the Bay Institute

Additional Sources

Subsidence Fishing (fishing for personal consumption)