Introducing OneWaterSF
An Introduction from the General Manager , Harlan L . Kelly Jr .
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission ( SFPUC ) is a department of the City and County of San Francisco that provides a breadth of services to over 2.6 million people in San Francisco and the surrounding areas . We are responsible for providing drinking water and wastewater services directly to customers in San Francisco , wholesale water service in three Bay Area counties , and emissions-free power to San Francisco ’ s municipal departments and other customers . Our mission is to provide our customers with high quality , efficient , and reliable water , power , and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care . Critical to meeting this mission is the ongoing sustainable management of our financial resources .
Since 2012 , we have successfully operated a pioneering onsite treatment system at our headquarters to reduce our own potable water consumption by 65 percent . Other innovative projects and programs include the Urban Watershed Management Program and the Nonpotable Water Program , which have allowed us to create synergistic projects that diversify our water supplies and better leverage our water resources . In addition to the hydropower produced by our Regional Water System , the SFPUC is also capturing clean , renewable energy by co-locating solar panel arrays and developing biogas generation at our water and wastewater facilities . With these clean energy programs , the SFPUC is contributing significantly to the City ’ s comprehensive 0-50-100-ROOTS climate action strategy .
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We are building on all of these successes , and expanding our City ’ s sustainability efforts , by formalizing a new approach to water and energy resources management : OneWaterSF . As our City ’ s utility provider , we are uniquely positioned to take the lead in furthering OneWaterSF . We have been involved with utility leaders on a national level to help define “ one water ” and the future of water resource management . Through this work , we know that utilities implementing a One Water approach realize a number of organizational benefits and are better equipped to address climate change , water shortages , water quality protection , and aging infrastructure challenges .
In San Francisco , we believe that OneWaterSF will provide greater water and energy resource resiliency and reliability , create opportunities to optimize our water infrastructure , and contribute to the livability and sustainability of our City and the environment . OneWaterSF represents a new way of doing business for the SFPUC that will build upon the values expressed in our 2020 Strategic Plan . Together , these efforts will increase communication across traditional lines within the SFPUC and the City , encourage creative thinking and inventive solutions , and better align each of our business practices with a shared sense of purpose around maximizing the efficient use of our precious and finite resources .
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John Muir Trail , Tuolumne River , Lyell Fork Canyon