San Francisco Climate Action Plan2026 plan · progress dashboard

Taking action across sectors · 7 of 7

Water Supply

San Francisco, like all of California, is experiencing a new climate reality.

Persistent droughts, rising temperatures, and other impacts of a changing climate are forcing cities to think about how to ensure a reliable, low-or no-emission, climate-resilient water supply for residents, businesses, and industries today and in the future.

The City's water system is foundational to public health, economic stability, and emergency preparedness.

Plan chapter begins on page 91 of the published PDF.

Goals

  1. NowMaximize water use efficiency to keep combined indoor and outdoor residential water use under the State's 2030 standard for indoor residential water use of 42 gallons per capita per day.
  2. By 2045Enhance the resilience of San Francisco's water supply by 2045 by increasing local water sources to include 2.5 million gallons per day (mgd) of recycled water, 4 mgd of groundwater, and by exploring additional new water supplies, while maintaining the Hetch Hetchy gravity-driven water delivery system.

Accomplishments so far

Strategies and actions

3 strategies, 13 actions. Departments listed on an action lead its implementation.

Strategy 1 · 3 actions · 1 indicator

Invest in and implement demand management programs to reduce water use.

  1. 1-1

    Continue to implement measures to help retail customers maintain efficient water use through education, replacing inefficient plumbing fixtures, and other measures as noted in the SFPUC's 2025 Retail Water Conservation Plan, and at sfpuc.gov/ savewater. SFPUC

    Ongoing

  2. 1-2

    Continue to stay ahead of the State's water efficiency standards. SFPUC

    Ongoing

  3. 1-3

    Continue outreach to environmental justice communities, as defined by the San Francisco Environmental Justice Communities Map. SFPUC

    Ongoing

Racial and Social Equity ReviewWhat the equity review said about this strategy

Equity impacts

EJ communities and vulnerable demographics are often unable to benefit from established workforce development programs. They face barriers to the accessibility of existing programs, education and systems of empowerment, and reducing water use to support drought resilience.

Recommendations

  • Focus limited resources to EJ communities and vulnerable demographics that could benefit from current programs.
  • Explore establishing a program to support residents in EJ communities to learn about the importance of and best practices for conservation, and empower residents with neighbor-toneighbor education.

Suggested edit to the draft

Suggest modifying the strategy as follows:“Invest in and implement demand management programs to reduce water use *and explore ways to focus resources and/education to EJ communities.”

Partly reflected in the final plan. Strategy title unchanged; action WS-1-3 continues outreach to EJ communities as defined by the EJ Communities Map.

Source: 2026 Climate Action Plan, Appendix C. Adoption status is our reading of the final text, pending SFE confirmation.

Strategy 2 · 5 actions · 1 indicator

Invest in and implement innovative programs to reduce water use and develop new water supplies.

  1. 2-1

    Build upon previous atmospheric water generation pilot project completed in 2023 by implementing one or more additional energy efficient atmospheric water generation pilot projects by 2030 to test the viability of producing water for irrigation in a community garden setting. SFPUC

    By 2030

  2. 2-2

    Expand outreach to increase participation in SFPUC Onsite Water Reuse Grant Program, including opportunities for SFPUC customers to obtain funding for innovative resource recovery projects such as brewery process water reuse and wastewater heat recovery. SFPUC

    No date set

  3. 2-3

    Expand pilot projects in environmental justice communities, as defined by the San Francisco Environmental Justice Communities Map. SFPUC

    No date set

  4. 2-4

    Initiate design by 2027 to launch demonstration facilities by 2030 for purified water, with the goal of maximizing the use of greenhouse-gas-free energy produced by the Hetch Hetchy Power System for facility operations. SFPUC

    By 2030

  5. 2-5

    Continue to assess new water efficient technologies. SFPUC

    Ongoing

Racial and Social Equity ReviewWhat the equity review said about this strategy

Equity impacts

EJ communities often lack the support with and benefits from innovative technologies in the water conservation and water supply resilience space. EJ communities need more support and connection to water conservation projects.

Recommendations

  • This strategy could support the resilience of communities, however there is no target to ensure EJ communities benefit equitably.
  • Ensure that programs or progress in this strategy have a focus on or prioritization of EJ communities.
  • Seek to expand program at Hummingbird Farm to other locations in EJ communities.
  • Ensure that EJ communities benefit from this strategy by removing any barriers uniquely faced by them to obtain the same benefits as other communities.
  • Consider commitment to pilot programs in EJ communities.

Suggested edit to the draft

Suggest revising the following action: WS 2-1: “...with a priority to hire plumbers and contractors from EJ communities to install highefficiency fixtures, leak repairs, smart irrigation, and gray-water kits and train on new water innovations." Suggest adding an action to expand pilot program into other EJ communities.

Adopted in the final plan. Action WS-2-3 expands pilot projects in environmental justice communities; the hiring language does not appear.

Source: 2026 Climate Action Plan, Appendix C. Adoption status is our reading of the final text, pending SFE confirmation.

Strategy 3 · 5 actions · 1 indicator

Invest in and implement supply augmentation programs.

  1. 3-1

    Increase groundwater pumping to achieve up to 4 million gallons per day (mgd), monitoring water quality metrics to ensure compliance with public health standards, and report annual groundwater pumping and quality on SFPUC website. SFPUC

    No date set

  2. 3-2

    Implement San Francisco's Onsite Water Reuse Program, which requires new development projects of 100,000 gross square feet or more to install and operate an onsite water reuse system. SFPUC

    No date set

  3. 3-3

    By 2040, complete analysis of technical, environmental, and economic feasibility for alternative water supply projects such as potable reuse, incorporating metrics like cost per gallon of water produced, potential reduction in water scarcity, and energy use. SFPUC

    By 2040

  4. 3-4

    Produce recycled water and provide it to Golden Gate Park and other locations for irrigation by 2030. Maximize the use of greenhouse-gas-free energy for operation of the Westside Enhanced Water Recycling Project. SFPUC

    By 2030

  5. 3-5

    Maintain the 100% greenhouse-gas-free Hetch Hetchy gravity-driven water delivery system. SFPUC

    Ongoing

Racial and Social Equity ReviewWhat the equity review said about this strategy

Equity impacts

New water infrastructure could exacerbate existing disparities. Water augmentation programs can support the increased resilience of communities but may potentially impact EJ communities.

Recommendations

  • Commit to, at a minimum, ensuring benefits are focused in EJ communities first.
  • Focus on reducing these disparities through education and ensuring benefits target EJ communities first.
  • Explore programs that would focus on education and shared decision making with EJ communities.
  • A more explicit action or mention of focusing in improved relationships with indigenous communities and/or other EJ communities would be useful here.
  • Find ways to increase outreach and education around programs and resilience benefits, as well as target ways to reduce impact for EJ communities.

Suggested edit to the draft

Suggest adding the following action: “Focus on targeted enrollment in low-income programs, more outreach, and free installation of low-flow equipment, etc."

Not adopted. No such action appears under WS-3; WS-1-1 covers fixture replacement generally.

Source: 2026 Climate Action Plan, Appendix C. Adoption status is our reading of the final text, pending SFE confirmation.