Quote:
Originally Posted by SFBruin
Doesn't San Francisco at least have the option of getting water from the Sacramento River delta?
If not, then that's super interesting that neither of the major California cities have a nearby, viable water source.
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I think most of the water supply in SF and the Peninsula still comes via aqueduct from Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite. Some of the Hetch Hetchy water is stored in Crystal Springs and San Antonio reservoirs on the penninsula, I recall. Maybe some local sources also. Not sure where the east bay gets the water from. Maybe the state water project and local sources like ground water? There are a few big reservoirs in the east bay hills, so local rainfall must be part of it. The bay area, especially in the Santa Cruz Mountains, gets considerably more rainfall than most of the the L.A. area (except the San Gabriel Mountains, where up to 40 inches falls) so local sources must be involved as well in the water supply). L.A. city gets most of its water from the eastern Sierra, via the aqueduct, and some from local groundwater, local reservoirs, the state water project, and the Colorado River aqueduct. San Diego area gets much of the water from the state water project, local sources like runoff into reservoirs from the mountains, the Colorado aqueduct, and even a big desal plant in Carlsbad. The Diamond Valley reservoir near Hemet is a huge storage basin for water from the state water project, and provides many cities in SoCal with a backup source of water in drought years, or a one year supply if an earthquake temporarily cutoff the state water project water flow.
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A sampling of avg. annual precip. in Bay Area and L.A. area:
S.F. 23"; Berkeley 25"; San Jose 15"; Palo Alto 21"; Santa Cruz 32"; San Rafael 34"; Livermore 15"; Big Basin 50-60"; Muir Woods-Mt. Tam. 45-50".
L.A. 15"; Glendale 22"; Burbank 19"; Hollywood 17"; Long Beach 12"; Westwood 18"; Pasadena 19"; Sierra Madre 23"; Anaheim 13"; Mt. Wilson 32"; Topanga/Santa Monica Mountains crest 22-25"; Crystal Lake (wettest part of San Gabriels) 40-42".