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Water for SF, in Great Detail -- Strike for the Planet week 95 [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-03  

You can make a difference to the hurt being caused by climate chaos and the great extinction event in your town or your city! How? Reuse, repurpose, and recycle this information. You can push your local politicians to act. It will make a difference!

This is the letter for week 95 of a weekly climate strike that went on for 4 years in front of San Francisco City Hall, beginning early March 2019. For more context, see this story. For an annotated table of contents of the topics for all the strike letters, see this story. Meanwhile…

STRIKE FOR THE PLANET

Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink.1

This week’s topic: Water for SF, in great detail.

Hetch Hetchy is not a sustainable water source.

And the sooner we get rid of it, the better things will be for all of northern CA. Don’t believe me? Let us count the ways in which Hetch Hetchy doesn’t work.

We, specifically the SFPUC, are driving the Tuolumne River salmon run extinct.2 Salmon are the keystone species for the forests of northern CA.3 By disruption and destruction, dams such as the O’Shaughnessy destroy forests directly during construction and eternally through ongoing ecosystem degradation.4, 5, 6 Forests are vital components of CA’s hydrosphere; killing forests greatly reduces water in the system.7 Dams destroy wetlands in place and downstream.8 And it just so happens that wetlands are our only buffer for sea level rise and storm surges, are huge carbon sinks, provide vital habitat to critically endangered species, and are key to the entire bay ecosystem.9, 10, 11, 12 Dams screw up water and kill rivers.13, 14, 15 Dams increase catastrophic flooding events, especially when combined with extreme weather brought on by climate chaos.16, 17 Just because it hasn’t happened yet with Hetch Hetchy doesn’t mean it won’t. Northern CA’s hydrosphere (including toxic filtration) depends on wetlands.18, 19 The Sierra snowpack is going away20 and the dams were built for snow, not rain.21 Lack of water flow and silt deposition due to dams are destroying the bay.22, 23, 24 Dams directly cause social and environmental injustices, perpetuate the CA genocide, and use systemic racism to enrich the wealthy and steal from Native Californians.25 Water storage by dams is an old, bad technology that no longer works.

Because we’re in a megadrought, CA’s past water “solutions” are now moot.

It’s not just the O’Shaughnessy. Dams? They don’t work too well when there’s no water. California, the western states, and northern Mexico are in the beginning years of a megadrought. We know this from biological, core, and fossil records.26 Three independent sources of data all saying the same thing is pretty damning. And, based on soil moisture content information, this baby megadrought is shaping up to be the worst in over 1200 years.27

So it’s a megadrought. So what?

Megadroughts destroyed the Akkadian Empire, Egyptian Old Kingdom, Mycenaeans, Hittites, Egyptian New Kingdom, Mayans, Tang Dynasty, Tiwanaku Empire, Ancestral Puebloans, Mississippians, Khmer Empire, Ming Dynasty, and modern Syria, among others.28 This megadrought can easily destroy San Francisco and California and, because of California’s importance economically and agriculturally, the United States as well. And we are causing it.29

Fine then. How does SF deal with a megadrought?

Recycle water.

Plant water traps (native trees and grasses).

Plant water storers (native trees, grasslands, and wetlands).

Reduce water use.

Do not depend on water for electricity.

Invest in cheap, portable, and scalable water purification technology.

Stop supporting policies that destroy the Delta.

Stop polluting our water.

Oh, and stop causing the megadrought in the first place.

Who can help us do this?

There are dozens of prior Strike letters with details on all of this, including names and contact information. Take blackwater recycling, for instance. Way back in week 28, that’s 67 weeks ago, I gave you a thorough rundown on the where, who, and how of blackwater recycling. But here it is again, with up to date contact info.

Namibia. Windhoek, the Goreangab plant at https://www.wingoc.com.na/contact-0#no-back .

. Wichita Falls, Texas. Harold Burris is the Resource Recovery Superintendent at 940-766-2841 or harold.burris@wichitafallstx.gov . You’re asking about the “toilet to tap” wastewater recycling program of 2014.

. You’re asking about the “toilet to tap” wastewater recycling program of 2014. Austin, Texas. They’ve built, but not yet implemented, a thorough water recycling system. Contact Katherine Jashinski at http://www.austintexas.gov/email/katherine.jashinski and there’s a lot more information at http://www.austintexas.gov/department/site-blackwater-reuse-pilot-project-meet-oscar-and-clara .

and there’s a lot more information at . The City of San Diego. It’s not full toilet-to-tap but they’ve navigated CA regulations most of the way and are looking to do the last step. Their PUC is at 619-533-5358 or scesena@sandiego.gov.

The Orange County Water District. Another CA locale that has been aggressively pursuing water reuse. If Republicans behind the Orange Curtain can do it, clearly we can. The main office phone number is 714-378-3200, though they have a ton of social media and a contact message page available here: https://www.ocwd.com/contact-us/ .

. The East County Advanced Water Purification program of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District in San Diego. They are available at 619-258-4644 or info@eastcountyawp.com.

Singapore. The National Water Agency has dubbed it NEWater, and this overview page explains how they do it — https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/fournationaltaps/newater . They are much more non-bio-tech than the Namibian model, and therefore likely more expensive and susceptible to hacking. They are reachable at (65) 6225 5782 for international calls or online in multiple ways at https://www.pub.gov.sg/contact .

. They are much more non-bio-tech than the Namibian model, and therefore likely more expensive and susceptible to hacking. They are reachable at (65) 6225 5782 for international calls or online in multiple ways at . Israel recycles 90% of its wastewater. Most is directed to agriculture and not the tap. The Israeli Water Authority can be contacted at 076-5300905 or https://forms.gov.il/globalData/GetSequence/getHtmlForm.aspx?formType=contact_us@water.gov.il .

. Salesforce. The tower has an independent blackwater recycling system in place that goes from toilet to toilet or irrigation. If they’re not already on your speed dial, you can contact them at info@salesforcetower.com .

Do you need me to do a list like this for every megadrought topic above?

This is an honest question. I can and am willing to make contact sheets for you about planting for water, water use reduction, green electricity generation, water purification, Delta issues, and local water pollution. You just need to let me know that you will use the lists and I’ll make them.

Where do we do all of this?

Everywhere we can. Remember the windmills? If you don’t want to use them for electricity for the equipment working in Golden Gate Park, use them to pump recycled water from the downhill blackwater recycling facility back uphill to the thirsty. Water purification? Scalable, it can be done anywhere. We need to be reusing and making water everywhere we use it or need it.

You need to do this work now.

I would do this for you — fix the water problem by doing all the work myself — if I could. I can’t. It’s your job. So do you care about the city, about your oath of office, about kindness and, through action, about equity and justice enough to act?

Because isn’t it about time you fight for San Francisco?

It’s now or never. This isn’t the road to Mad Max’s world — it’s likely worse.30 Can’t you see that time’s up?31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 Our current situation is what we thought the worst case scenario would be 10 years from now. And the current conditions are worsening daily.39, 40 It’s time to fight for SF.

FOOTNOTES

1. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. pub. Lyrical Ballads . 1798. Accessed 16 February on Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/151/151-h/151-h.htm .

2. Robyn Purchia. “Salmon dwindling while SFPUC fiddling”. San Francisco Examiner. 3 February 2021. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-columnists/salmon-dwindling-while-sfpuc-fiddling/ .

3. “State of Salmon in California”. The Nature Conservancy. Accessed 16 February 2021. https://casalmon.org .

4. Viet Nam News. “Dam projects destroy environment”. Eco-Business. 9 May 2012. https://www.eco-business.com/news/dam-projects-destroy-environment/ .

5. Fred Pearce. “Forest Defenders: A Panamanian Tribe Regains Control of Its Lands”. YaleEnvironment360. 14 January 2021. https://e360.yale.edu/features/forest-defenders-a-panamanian-tribe-regains-control-of-its-lands .

6. Manuela Andreoni and Letícia Casado. “Vale Mining Company to Pay $7 Billion in Compensation for Brazil Dam Collapse”. The New York Times. 4 February 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/world/americas/vale-brazil-dam-collapse-7-billion-compensation.html .

7. Douglas Sheil and Daniel Murdiyarso. “How Forests Attract Rain: An Examination of a New Hypothesis”. BioScience. Vol 59, Issue 4, 1 April 2009. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2009.59.4.12 .

8. David Hopkins. “Dams destroy environment, group warns”. edie. 16 November 2005. https://www.edie.net/news/3/Dams-destroy-environment-group-warns/10781/ .

9. Marine Biological Laboratory. “Wetlands will keep up with sea level rise to offset climate change”. Phys dot Org. 20 December 2019. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-wetlands-sea-offset-climate.html .

10. Sharol Nelson-Embry. “Are Wetlands Nature’s Best Defense Against Sea Level Rise?” KQED. 16 July 2013. https://www.kqed.org/quest/54442/wetlands-horizontal-levees-sea-level-rise .

11. Deb Self. “Climate Change’s Threat to Bay Wetlands”. San Francisco Baykeeper. May 2010. https://baykeeper.org/news/column/climate-change-threat-to-bay-wetlands .

12. “Coastal Wetlands and Sediments of the San Francisco Bay System”. USGS Fact Sheet. Accessed 17 February 2021. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/coastal-wetlands/.

13. “How Dams Damage Rivers”. American Rivers. Accessed 17 February 2021. https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/restoring-damaged-rivers/how-dams-damage-rivers/ .

14. Sara Popescu Slavikova and Ovidiu Popescu. “How Dams Affect the Environment”. Greentumble. 27 March 2016. https://greentumble.com/how-dams-affect-the-environment/ .

15. Karl Mathiesen. “Do dams destroy rivers?” The Guardian. 27 August 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2014/aug/27/do-dams-destroy-rivers .

16. Fred Pearce. “Dams accused of role in flooding: Research Paper: ‘Dams and Floods’”. World Wide Fund for Nature. 21 June 2001. https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/dams-accused-role-flooding-research-paper-dams-and-floods .

17. Fiona Harvey. “UN warns most will live downstream of aging large dams by 2050”. The Guardian. 22 January 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/22/un-warns-most-will-live-downstream-ageing-large-dams-2050 .

18. “California Wetlands”. CA dot Gov. Accessed 17 February 2021. https://mywaterquality.ca.gov/eco_health/wetlands/index.html .

19. Aditi Tandon. “Explained: What Are Wetlands and Why Are They Important?” The Wire. 28 January 2021. https://science.thewire.in/environment/explained-wetlands-why-are-they-important/ .

20. Belinda Waymouth. “Climate change puts California’s snowpack under the weather”. UCLA Institute of the Environment & Sustainability. 9 March 2017. https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/climate-change-puts-californias-snowpack-weather/ .

21. Trina Kleist. “Full reservoirs mean Sierra snowmelt flows out of NID water system”. The Union. 28 January 2018. https://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/full-reservoirs-mean-sierra-snowmelt-flows-out-of-nid-water-system/ .

22. Jimmy Tobias. “The Extinction Crisis Devastating San Francisco Bay”. The Nation. 21 April 2020. https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/extinction-san-francisco-bay/ .

23. “Ten ways dams damage rivers”. Beyond Searsville Dam. Accessed 17 February 2021. http://www.beyondsearsvilledam.org/Beyond_Searsville_Dam/DAMage.html .

24. Jane Kay. “Delta Smelt, Icon of California Water Wars, Is Almost Extinct”. National Geographic. April 2015. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150403-smelt-california-bay-delta-extinction-endangered-species-drought-fish .

25. Emily Velasco. “Dams and the Damage They Do”. Caltech. 31 October 2018. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/dams-and-damage-they-do-84282 .

26. Seth Borenstein. “Study: Warming makes US West megadrought worst in modern age”. Phys dot org. 16 April 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-west-megadrought-worst-modern-age.html .

27. Kevin Krajick. “Climate-driven megadrought is emerging in western US, study says”. Phys dot Org. 16 April 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-climate-driven-megadrought-emerging-western.html .

28. Jeff Masters. “Ten Civilizations or Nations That Collapsed from Drought”. Weather Underground. 21 March 2016. https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/ten-civilizations-or-nations-that-collapsed-from-drought.html .

29. Brooks Hays. “Climate change to blame for megadrought emerging across Western U.S.” United Press International. 17 April 2020. https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/04/17/Climate-change-to-blame-for-megadrought-emerging-across-Western-US/5651587066418/ .

30. Noah Gittell. “Mad Max’s Scarily Accurate Take On Climate Change”. TPM. 22 May 2015. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/mad-max-accurate-take-on-climate-change .

31. Matt McGrath. “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”. BBC News. 24 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736 .

32. Heather Smith. “Climate Change: Even Worse Than We Thought”. Sierra. 8 October 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-change-even-worse-we-thought-ipcc-report .

33. Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster. “Just how hot will it get this century? It’s worse than we thought”. Phys Org. 18 May 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-hot-century-worse-thought.html .

34. Amelia Urry. “The scientist who first warned of climate change says it’s much worse than we thought”. Grist. 22 March 2016. https://grist.org/science/the-scientist-who-first-warned-of-climate-change-says-its-much-worse-than-we-thought/ .

35. Rafi Letzter. “Today’s Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years”. Live Science. 25 July 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66027-climate-change-different.html .

36. John D. Sutter. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 30 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ .

37. Peter Castagno. “Biodiversity Loss Worst in Human History — 1 Million Animal Species Risk Extinction”. Citizen Truth. 6 May 2019. https://citizentruth.org/biodiversity-loss-worst-in-human-history-1-million-animal-species-risk-extinction/ .

38. Kristen Callihan. “Earth’s Currently Ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction Is Worse Than We Thought”. OutwardOn. 7 August 2017. https://www.outwardon.com/article/earths-currently-ongoing-sixth-mass-extinction-event-is-worse-than-we-thought/ .

39. Lauren Frayer. “Scores Are Feared Dead In India After Himalayan Glacier Breaks Away”. NPR. 7 February 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/02/07/965046888/scores-are-feared-dead-in-india-after-himalayan-glacier-breaks-away . It’s now looking like it was a landslide which makes the situation worse.

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