Contract Case Study: San Francisco, CA

San Francisco, CA -- Water is a big deal in California. Over the past century, billions of dollars have been spent throughout the state creating an extensive network of pipes, dams, canals, aqueducts and other structures to redistribute massive amounts of water throughout this naturally dry state.

San Francisco is no exception. The city relies on water supplied to it by a variety of sources north of the city, including water stored by the Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite Valley. Hetch Hetchy is not without some controversy; some conservationists have raised concerns about the impact the project has had on the Tuolumne River and the surrounding areas, and say there are other ways to ensure adequate water supplies without relying on the reservoir. Communities that rely on the reservoir respond by saying the reservoir will be an important source of reliable water in a future where climate change has put further stress on water resources, and that other scenarios aren’t feasible.

Either way, one thing is clear: overall, San Francisco has made major investments to protect its water supply and to maintain its city water infrastructure. It is fair to say it was money well spent. San Francisco’s utility has scored well in evaluations by the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental groups and public health organizations. While there are ongoing threats to the city’s water system, including industrial pollution and other issues, San Francisco’s system has had a solid performance throughout the past few years.

Yet, San Francisco is also a key market for the booming bottled water industry. California’s consumption of bottled water outstrips all other U.S. states, and the San Francisco Bay area is near the top of the heap. The target demographic for the bottled water industry – young, affluent, health conscious and environmentally aware urbanites – is found in large numbers in the city. The industry’s misleading marketing has had a big impact on people in San Francisco, right down to City Hall.

In 2007 the San Francisco Chronicle broke a story that the city of San Francisco spent over $500,000 each year on bottled water for city employees, at the same time that the city was spending money promoting the quality of its tap water.

Local activists, working with Corporate Accountability International, circulated a sign-on letter to individuals and organizations in San Francisco calling on Mayor Gavin Newsom to cancel the bottled water contracts and support the city’s public water. They held events to promote public water systems and challenge bottled water, and worked with the media to generate further coverage of this issue. Their efforts paid off. In April 2007, activists met with the staff of San Francisco Mayor Newsom, the Public Utilities Commission and the Department of the Environment to discuss how the city could replace bottled water with public water and cancel city contracts. In June 2007, Mayor Newsom issued an executive directive canceling the city’s bottled water contracts!