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Save Lake Merced

Wednesday, January 31, 2001
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO'S Lake Merced has shrunk to half its size in recent decades. Fish no longer thrive in its turbid water. Tule weeds choke the shoreline where finger piers sit high and dry, yards from the water's edge.

The culprits are plain. Golf courses, cemeteries and surrounding cities freely pump water from an underlying aquifer that feeds the lake.

Also to blame is a failure of leadership. No jurisdiction is willing to take the first small step, such as cutting back on water use, switching to reclaimed water for irrigation or setting up tough, enforceable safeguards. Delay, which benefits the present users, is the rule.

This shameful deadlock may finally be broken. A conservationist group, California Trout, has filed a petition asking that a host of state agencies halt the lake's demise. If inaction persists, then a lawsuit may follow asking for court remedies.

Maybe this approach will get attention. Nearly a decade of talks, task forces and promises have produced paltry results. San Francisco, which taps the lake for its parks, zoo and public golf courses, has taken the lead in repairing the damage, if resolutions and plans are any measure. During the next two years, it promises to direct storm runoff and recycled water into the lake. There is even talk of storing part of its Sierra water supplies in the lake.

Cities in northwest San Mateo County may pull less water from the aquifer beneath the lake if plants can be built to purify and reuse reclaimed water. The five golf courses could draw less groundwater, if recycled water is found.

A task force of San Francisco neighborhood leaders spelled out many of the needed steps in a recent report. But any of these plans will take time and money, obstacles that have halted change for years.

A court-imposed resolution ought to be the last resort. It would be better to negotiate a plan to restore the lake to good health.

Given the long list of participants, any solution will be complicated. Also, raising the level of the lake will take time.

But a sense of urgency and commitment is missing from the mix. As long as the water users can drain off what they need, none of the participants have any motive to change their habits. The public is continually put off.

The CalTrout petition could break this impasse. The state, a missing player until now, could step in to order changes in water use. Or the major players could do the job themselves and return Lake Merced to its prime.