The Lake Merced Question

     Debate lingers between environmentalists and cities interested in aquifer

     By Michael Flaherty
     Independent Newspapers
     May 7, 2002

     SAN BRUNO – San Bruno officials sat down at a Lake Merced mediating session last Tuesday for
     the first time ever since the 8-year effort began to save this body of water.

     San Bruno’s attendance at the meeting coincided with the ongoing debate of whether or not the city
     contributes to the depletion of Lake Merced, located on the border of San Francisco and San
     Mateo County.

     Lake supporters bristled at the news that San Bruno will build a replacement well at Lions Park and
     test drill at two separate locations in the city.

     The news of reactivating a fifth city well comes amid further talks regarding the underground aquifer
     that feeds both the lake and three Peninsula cities.

     While San Bruno officials attempt to ensure a plentiful water supply in the face of imminent rate
     hikes, environmentalists are trying to ward off further tapping into the Westside Basin Aquifer – the
     water source for Lake Merced.

     San Bruno’s participation in the negotiations comes one month after a signed agreement between
     Daly City, three golf courses and the agency ultimately responsible for the lake – the San Francisco
     Public Utilities Commission. The deal will place a $6 million recycling facility in Daly City – split
     between the city, the state and San Francisco – that will stop certain aquifer pumps by converting
     sewage effluent into irrigation water.

     South City is the third municipality that draws from the aquifer. According to the California Water
     Services Company, the entity that serves South City its water, they purchase 90 percent of their
     water from the SFPUC and take 10 percent from the aquifer.

     SFPUC water comes from the Hetch Hetchy system that serves more than 2 million people in the
     Bay Area.

     At last Tuesday’s meeting, CWSC Vice President Robert Guzzetta admitted that a conjunctive use
     discussion took place between he and the SFPUC. Such an agreement would mean that during wet
     years, the CWSC would stop pumping from the aquifer and instead purchase surplus water from the
     SFPUC.

     “We are pursuing this agreement and we’re making progress. We’ve wanted this for years and
     hopefully, we’ll have something soon,” said Guzzetta, who added that current pumping rates are half
     of what they once were in South City during the late 1960s.

     Some hydrologists have determined that a conjunctive use agreement would help raise Lake
     Merced’s water levels and prevent salt-water intrusion from ruining the Westside Basin Aquifer.

     Scott Munns, San Bruno’s Director of Public Works, stated that he and City Attorney Pamela
     Thompson came away from the meeting “with a number of things to talk to City Council about, but it’s
     premature to state any position,” he said.

     San Bruno purchases 60 percent of its water from the SFPUC and draws 40 percent from city wells,
     according to Munns. He joins councilmembers Chris Pallas and Irene O’Connell in their stance that
     San Bruno’s use of the aquifer and its effect on Lake Merced is not an exact science.

     “The issue is subject to debate by hydrologists. I don’t know factually that we do or do not have an
     impact. It’s been our position that we’re maintaining a balance when it comes to ground water
     development,” said Munns.

     Environmentalists, however, claim that San Bruno has dragged its feet when it comes to addressing
     concerns with their use of the aquifer.

     Members of Friends of Lake Merced cite a report issued by the Woodland-based Luhdorff
     Scalmanini Consulting Engineers as proof of San Bruno’s culpability.

     The SFPUC issued the report following CalTrout’s petition to the State Water Resources Board in
     January 2001.

     CalTrout’s petition stated a 50 percent decline in the lake’s water level in the last 15 to 20 years.
     The petition also noted that Lake Merced was once known as an ideal urban fishery and that only
     two urban counties in the state at the time did not use recycled water: San Francisco County and
     San Mateo County.

     The Luhdorff Scalmanini report stated that the flow of the aquifer shifted south over the years –
     towards the Peninsula – though the findings did not directly link pumping rates to the lake’s lowered
     levels.

     John Plummer, chairman of Friends of Lake Merced, understands that city is walking a delicate line
     between doing what’s right for San Bruno and appeasing aquifer defenders.

     But based on the report’s confirmation of flow changes, he can’t understand San Bruno’s obstinace
     when it comes to tapping the ground for water.

     “It seems to me like they’re shooting themselves in the head, never mind the foot,” said Plummer.
     “We can prove that it’s depleting the aquifer.” He added that because of San Bruno’s location near
     San Francisco Bay, the fear of bay water taking over a weakened aquifer is significant.

     “They have a lot more to lose if they have salt water intrusion,” he said.

     San Bruno Councilmember Chris Pallas, however, maintains that the argument of connecting his
     city’s water pumps to an ailing Lake Merced is tenuous.

     “I want them to show me that we’re affecting Lake Merced,” said Pallas. “They have to prove to me
     that San Bruno is taking too much water out of the aquifer. They haven’t.”

     Michael Flaherty can be reached by phone at 652-6730 or via e-mail at [email protected]