HETCH HETCHY WATER IS SACRED AND NOT TO BE WASTED - LESS USED TO POLLUTE (11/29/10)
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All over the world the natural resources protected by indigenous people are coming under attack and are being totally destroyed. Here in San Francisco filthy rick folks took control of the Hetch Hetchy, dammed the valley and stole the water using the Raker Act as a ploy and forever stealing the Sacred Water from the indigenous tribes of the Yosemite Valley and surrounding areas.
Today, the Sacred Water one of most pristine in the entire world naturally filtered and kept intact within the confines of the granite rocks is sold to over two and half million customers. Millions of gallons of water are stored in large dams and reservoirs much of it from the Hetch Hetchy dam and some from rivers and smaller dams along the way. In recent years the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and the San Francisco Public Utilities Staff have not been forthright with the public. Some of us attended the early workshops when Richard Sklar was the Chair of the SFPUC and we have seen, more witnessed the long delays, convoluted change in designs and scope of work changes, and what is very disturbing false information given on some key projects, information on corrupt Primes, detail information on select sources and dams - Calaveras and Crystal Springs come to mind. I plan to attend the meeting at the Regional Water Board and reveal the many nuances that cannot be revealed in public because some of the Staff working on the Water System Improvement Project (WSIP) take criticism personally when they are at fault and have had huge delays - with little or no accountability. At one time both the Water System Improvement Project (WSIP) and the soon to be Sewer System Improvement Project (SSIP) were approved by the constituents of San Francisco with a Bond Measure that has not been reported back to the constituents in a forthright manner. Conveniently, the SSIP project was dropped off and the powers that be carried on with WSIP a $4.6 Billion project. The public has not been told that millions of dollars were wasted in programs that did little to inform the public and less to shed light on the initial phases of the WSIP program linked to outreach and attaining standards. Some dire fools decided at some point to have a different project manager linked to each phase, community outreach, and other essential programs and duties as the entire project was divided among the different Primes. Each Prime was given an eighteen month window of opportunity to complete a certain project and when he or she completed it - that Prime simply faded away. Only, for another Prime to come in, begin the begin - from scratch. Now, this nonsense speaks volumes to the present person who will speak to the project but again and again has not cared to divulge as to why she could not put an end to the nonsense that has been going on with the various Primes while not fulfilling the required mandates and less attaining workforce and other pertinent elements that are essential in evaluating any major project - especially one, on which over $4.6 BILLION dollars will be expanded. To enlighten the public at large $2.4 billion came from the tax payers of San Francisco agreeing to a bond measure to fulfill the need of SFPUC and the revamping of the entire Hetch Hetchy Projects both the WSIP and SSIP. The rest came of the money came from Bonds issued by the Regional partners. A report given at the SFPUC by the General Manager of the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) can be contacted for precise details. The entire total of the customers that tap into the Hetch Hetchy system are 2.4 million customers. While all the time the SFPUC has not been diligent enough over the years to perform vital maintenance of the entire system linked to the Hetch Hetchy operations. We have known, for a long time, a full seventy percent of the both the clean water pipes some two thousand miles and the waste water pipes some one thousand seven hundred are over seventy years plus and in many areas leeching into the ground. Both with clean water and waste water the watershed is compromised. Over the years maintenance of these essential SFPUC infrastructure was delayed while Mayors tapped and cleaned up the General Funds where SFPUC funds made their abode for years. In all the deliberations not once have we had a workshop, presentation, some finding of substance linked to our watershed. We know we have a large watershed. One stretches from the Presidio of San Francisco to Lake Merced. In years past, millions of gallons were tapped from the watershed under what is now the Golden Gate Park; reference the two or more Windmills that were used. One windmill in the Golden Gate Park closer to the Pacific Ocean for sure has been restored and speaks to the ingenuity of the engineers who used their intellect unlike the buffoons that think they are bluffing us when we know better their plans for recycled water at this late juncture. The Crystal Springs dam has serious elements that have not been resolved. The Calaveras dam is in poor shape and when the Big One strikes a large area will be flooded adversely impacting the constituents of Fremont and beyond. There is a time bomb ticking and some so called engineers are playing with the lives of innocent people. Water resources, as with the forest, the air, the sun, the rain, and other large areas kept aside for the better interests of the majority - known as the COMMONS by those who hail from Britain and Europe. More importantly better know by older wiser civilizations like those found in Egypt, present day Iraq know in the past as Babylonia, other civilizations when most of Europe were barbarians witnessed and written in the better books of history. The older civilizations cared for the Commons not so in the America we know today. Again and again, we in San Francisco seem to be missing the point. At one time we had astute advocates come and speak out their mind but not anymore. The SFPUC staff kept deceiving, telling lies, and propagating an agenda that has failed and wasted millions of dollars. The SFPUC today has one advantage the free water that was stolen and using this water as leverage, with increased prices and high demand - for now the SFPUC can take advantage of the situation but not for very long. No one can cut the great Redwood Forest and think for a second they will not have to deal with KARMA. No one can steal resources preserved for thousands of years and think for a second they will not be accountable to a higher force. No one can talk about sustainable practices while fostering biasness, greed, and the many evils that those practice who do not respect Mother Earth. Even as we see the collapse of our economy, the dollar valued at less then four cents, our Nation beholden to other Nations foremost China that we chided not too long ago. Our Nation bluffing innocent homeowners with subprime loans and derivatives, evil in design and saturated with greed, leading to millions of homes all over this Nation in foreclosure. Our banks created this mess and guess what, the tax payers, the commons had to rescue the banks regulated and the largest financial institutions Goldman Sachs, AIG, and so on still unregulated. The banks now have the money but to borrow you have to have equity - as much as sixty percent - equity. In times past, many past Mayors dipped into the San Francisco City's General Funds and took millions and spent it. The SFPUC knows about this fact, and the past Mayors' schemes, most importantly Diane Feinstein when she was Mayor of San Francisco, practiced deferred maintenance, that has led us to the present, state of affairs both with the WSIP and SSIP. Of course the many SFPUC managers and staff that do not live in San Francisco and could not care much about this history. These SFPUC employees have good jobs mostly making over $175,000 with benefits and laugh all the way to the bank. This all will abruptly come to a halt through forces that will stall the entire system and have a domino affect and more. At the last SFPU Commission held November 23, 2010 I promised to send Mr. Rydstrom and Mr. Ed Harrington some information linked to one group that informed the Public at Large about the atrocities committed by the SFPUC in yester years. Nothing much has changed even though Mr. Ed Harrington is in charge and I have great respect for him and he should know that. The corruption and discriminations is so embedded in the DNA of the SFPUC that many have thrown their hands and given up. Not so me: amicusveritas.org/publiccorruptionwatch/hetch_hetchy.htm The COMMONS, the public at large is the pulse of the community and in all things good, better, and best must be part of any deliberation. The tax payers fund the SFPUC even though they are called an Enterprise Department. The indigenous people, the public at large, the tax payers paying their bills, the many decent workers that have contributed to the SFPUC all these years first as employees of the Water Department and now of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, ardent advocates too may to mention, all have a stake in the WSIP and SSIP directly and indirectly and demand full transparency and accountability. This article is one of many that will sound the clarion call. I have named names before and could have this time but have refrained, many so call dubious entities, individuals greedy for money but more to fill their own coffers and do disservice to the community at large. The community is wide awake and will react - accordingly. The many past and present ploys and machinations are well known and a few of us have the facts and are vigilant. The WSIP was a failure even now at its tail end, the SSIP has not begun. There is all this time to first comprehend the situation at hand, address it in a holistic manner, discern and contemplate, have complete transparency and accountability, and always let the sun shine on the process. We need a Blue Print linked to short term and long term process. At each stage local, astute constituents must have a say in the decision making. We do not want parochial task force members with a hidden agenda, outsiders telling us about San Diego, Chicago, and other places and their inferior and failed water systems. We have a system that was stolen from the Miwoks and the Paiutes and others. Thieves, really never speak the Truth, they always circumvent the facts because they have a hidden agenda and more they suffer from a guilty conscience. Aho. |
