San Francisco filling reservoirs in as fire approaches supply
Source: SF Gate
TUOLUMNE CITY, Calif. (AP) San Francisco water authorities are scrambling to fill area reservoirs with water from their source in the Sierra Nevada before ash from a wildfire near Yosemite National Park taints supplies.
Ash from the 234-square-mile fire has been falling on the city's Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite, but so far hasn't sunk far enough into the lake to reach intake pumps.
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The agency also is checking 12 miles of hydroelectric transmission lines that supply city facilities. An emergency declaration has allowed the city to spend $600,000 for power on the open market.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/SF-filling-reservoirs-in-as-fire-approaches-supply-4760657.php
Water from Hetch Hetchy supplies households from San Francisco to San Jose with water.
Power generated from O'Shaunessy Dam powers electric transit, for free, to certain buses and trains in San Francisco, effectively a form of free public power which is used for public benefit.