Wednesday February 8, 2023
San Francisco Chronicle —
In another sign that California’s drought is easing, San Francisco captured more than a year’s worth of water in just one month’s time.
The tremendous inflow to city reservoirs during the recent storms, mostly in and around Yosemite National Park, has lifted San Francisco’s total water storage to near capacity.
The water system, which includes the landmark Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, is expected to fill this winter, for the first time since 2019, with nearly 1.5 million acre-feet of water. That’s enough to supply the city’s service area for perhaps seven years.
“It’s promising, but too early to let our guard down,” said Joseph Sweiss, spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the city’s water purveyor, in an email to The Chronicle. “Remember, much of the state is still in a drought and so the prudence is warranted.”