River diversions avoided, a win for local
opponents

By James Damschroder

Environmental groups cautiously praised a plan by San Francisco to postpone
diversions of 35-million gallons of water a day from the Tuolumne River, which local
environment groups and the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors feared could hurt
area recreation, tourism and wildlife.

The San Francisco utilities and planning commissions approved the compromise plan
last Thursday in order to move forward a $4.4 billion plan to upgrade the Bay Area's
water lifeline running from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to 2.5 million customers in the Bay
Area because of fears that the aging infrastructure could be crippled in a major
earthquake.

The upgrade and extra diversions were tied together in a water plan, but pressure from
environmental groups to the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors led to the
compromise plan that focuses on water recycling, groundwater development and water
conservation to address the Bay Area's growing water demand.

"They had a tremendous impact on the decision," SFPUC spokesman Tony Winnicker
said of Tuolumne County residents' efforts to protest the extra diversions.

"They kept the question of where the Bay Area gets its water front and center,"
Winnicker added. "It (extra diversions) was the most controversial part of the plan."

The approved plan says that diversions will remain at the current 265 million gallons per
day and puts a cap that limits water sales to the current levels until 2018. This will allow
time for the SFPUC and environmental groups to further assess the river's ecosystem,
the affects of global warming on the Sierra snowpack, and for water recycling and
conservation technology to improve.

Environmental groups are not completely happy with the outcome, most notably, a
stipulation in the plan that allows for the diversion of an additional 2 million gallons a day
during extended periods of drought. But most admit the SFPUC's compromise was a
step in the right direction.

"We feel like it's a solid victory," said Peter Drekmeier, the Tuolumne River Trust Bay
Area program director.

Rebecca Cremeen, the Tuolumne River Trust Sierra Nevada program director, attended
Thursday meetings in San Francisco.

"We just wanted to remind SFPUC that Tuolumne County is concerned and opposed to
any extra diversions," she said.

"What happens in San Francisco affects people here," she added.

Environmentalists have pointed to rapidly declining salmon run as evidence that the
river's ecosystem is already damaged from Bay Area and Central Valley water needs.
The run has declined from 18,000 salmon counted in 2000 to 212 last year.

The SFPUC sees their compromised plan as evidence of their concern for the river's
health.

"This water supply alternative balances the future health and safety of our Bay Area
customers and our economy with our role as good environmental stewards of the lands
and rivers entrusted to our care," said SFPUC General Manager Ed Harrington.

The battle has consumed the Tuolumne River Trust and other area environment groups
for years. But with water needs growing and resources shrinking, there's always another
battle.

Drekmeier said the next battle will be with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's
relicensing of Don Pedro Reservoir for Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts.

Drekmeier said that the lower Tuolumne River, below the reservoir, needs higher flows
to sustain salmon runs.

For Cremeen and the local chapter of the Tuolumne River Trust, the future of the
Clavey River watershed will consume much of their time. Local environment groups are
pushing to get the Clavey River protected under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

"It's all connected," she said of the Clavey and Tuolumne rivers.