The city of San Francisco doesn’t want to part with its share of the valuable Sierra Nevada water supply but the state may insist. The two are back at it again in court and it’s up to a judge to decide who gets the goods.
San Francisco, as seen from the Marin headlands. (Courthouse News photo / Chris Marshall)
(CN) The city of San Francisco claims state regulators are singling out the city during a drought and trying to deprive residents of a much-needed source of drinking water, namely the Sierra-fed Tuolumne River.
With another drought on the horizon, city officials say the state is being unfair by demanding more water than it needs and more than the city has to spare. The lawsuit stems from a licensing deal for two dams controlled by a pair of nearby water districts which set the restrictions the city now seeks to maneuver around.
The Sewer Authority Mid-coastside lawsuit now involves over $6 million in disputed capital costs for the Intertie Pipeline System, plus an estimated $680,000 of Half Moon Bay legal fees, likely headed toward $3 million for all three agencies if it goes to trial, which is where it appears to be headed.
There are two key facts about this lawsuit many do not understand. First, the SAM system was designed to join together three separate areas, each of which previously had its own sewer treatment plant and collection systems. Second, Montara wanted no part of it, an opinion perhaps best explained by Robert Magnasco in a May 17, 1976, meeting of the old Montara Sanitary District. To wit: Mr. Robert Magnasco was appalled that a sewer plant functioning at 50 percent capacity would be abandoned and the raw sewage would be pumped nine miles for treatment.
Other residents echoed his sentiment. Stephen Rosenbloom said he was shocked when he heard Cormack speak at the workshop in favor of voluntary agreements, given the council s officially adopted position. Her statement, he told the council on Jan. 11, should disqualify her as a representative of the Palo Alto City Council on BAWSCA, since she refused to separate the official position of the City Council from her own beliefs.
David Warner, a resident who supports the Bay-Delta Plan, called Cormack s statement a step backward and said he was taken aback by her comments. Council member Cormack should either vigorously retract her statements verbally, in front of SFPUC, and reiterate Palo Alto s position or she should resign from the BAWSCA board, Warner said.