FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct 6, 2026 | Contact: Mark Shahinian, San Francisco Group Executive Committee member, Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter
Years of inaccurate water demand forecasts have exacted a heavy price on the environment and on ratepayers. Records show staff pushed consultants to publish inflated demand projections, even as the agency’s own finance team predicted water sales would stay flat. This is part of a pattern of behavior by water agencies across the state.
SAN FRANCISCO — For years, San Francisco’s water utility has pulled more water out of the rivers than its customers need, has planned on major infrastructure builds that exceed future demand, and has put its ratepayers on the hook for current and future rate increases.
Last week, the Sierra Club filed a petition in court that challenges the heart of the San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s (SFPUC) mismanagement of our natural resources and of the public purse. The petition in San Francisco Superior Court alleges the agency is not properly informing the public on the important issue of future water demand. This follows a pattern of inflated demand projections by agencies throughout the state. We are asking the courts to finally set the SFPUC straight and, in so doing, protect our environment.
State law requires every five years that urban water suppliers publish a public accounting of how much water its customers will need. That document is not a formality: it is the factual basis for how much water agencies divert from rivers and the Bay-Delta, and for the programs ratepayers finance. The SFPUC has, over the years, had a pattern of inflated demand projections, overstating demand by 40-50%. That means they leave less water in the rivers and fewer dollars in the pockets of the public.
The environment and ratepayers both pay. The SFPUC has spent years fighting the Bay Delta Plan, a landmark environmental plan that would finally give our starved San Francisco Bay and Delta ecosystems the water they need for fish and other species to prosper. The SFPUC’s inflated demand numbers are at the heart of their senseless fight against the very environment that San Franciscans cherish. Meanwhile, the SFPUC appears unable to manage its costs, building a brand new $400 million water department headquarters while customer rates increase 25% in two years from 2026 to 2028. The SFPUC is one of a number of urban water agencies that have historically inflated their water demand forecasts, making this an important statewide issue.
Two forecasts, no explanation The SFPUC operates off of two sets of books, and uses two different demand forecasts. One forecast for the internal team that handles the money. One forecast for the internal teams that affect the environment. They do not tell the public this in their plans. They do not reconcile the forecasts, so the public is left in the dark as to what the two forecasts mean and why they differ.
The SFPUC ignores the facts. Water use in San Francisco and in the other cities the SFPUC serves has declined by more than 30% in the past 25 years. But the SFPUC somehow always manages to project an increase in water use. They’ve done it again. Internal emails show their staff urging consultants to ignore the facts and change assumptions to yet again inflate demand projections.
Quote “The law asks the SFPUC to show its work and tell the public the truth about what its own staff found. Instead, the agency published one demand projection for the money and a different one for the environment. Ratepayers pay the price difference while the Bay-Delta ecosystem pays the environmental difference.” — John Bauters, Chair, Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter
What the Sierra Club is asking for. The petition asks a judge to direct the SFPUC to revise their plan, with a demand forecast rooted in facts and a candid reconciliation of its conflicting projections. It does not seek to halt water deliveries. It does not seek to threaten the water supplies of San Franciscans. The Sierra Club raised these issues with the Commission in multiple written and oral communications. The Commission adopted its plan without addressing our concerns. We are taking action because the truth matters and the environment matters.
About the Sierra Club The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.