^{Reservoirs of surface water are rarely as clean as groundwater. To reproduce the natural cleansing of aquifers, reservoir operators must use treatment devices like these antique sand filters at Chabot Reservoir.}

Wherever settlers arrived in America, their first concern was water. The ideal source of good water was not a babbling brook, although that was good enough for irrigating crops and brewing beer. Surface water varies with the seasons, is readily muddied, and we all know what fish do in it. Best was a steady, cool flow from a protected spring—that is, groundwater. Before wellsprings were a metaphor, they were the very basis of America's first settlements. (March 6–12, 2011 is National Groundwater Awareness Week to help remind us of these historic truths.)

As settlements grew into towns that in turn became cities, larger water sources could be engineered. Ancient Rome owed its prominence to its abundant water supply, brought by aqueduct from Apennine Mountain springs. Mighty New York captured the clean Catskill rains in a network of reservoirs that fed their water by gravity to Manhattan. San Francisco raided a national park in the Sierra Nevada, a hundred miles away, for its water supply. Now every Bay Area river has been harnessed for civic purposes. But groundwater is still a major player here, if a largely invisible one.

Groundwater wells were part of every household in the early days, but the typical shallow aquifer, or water-bearing zone, is not suited for hard use. It's too closely connected to the surface; indeed every permanent stream can be thought of as living groundwater, where erosion cuts into the top of the aquifer. Once too many wells tap the surface aquifer, the level of water underground—the water table—is depressed. Eventually the streams are affected, and the costs of digging ever deeper bring an end to the household well.

A growing city has to be more organized about its water. Most Bay Area cities rely on agencies that deliver surface water from a reservoir. The big advantages of a reservoir are energy and size: it's easy to deliver water downhill from the dam, and centralized treatment plants can do an efficient job filtering and disinfecting the water. The big advantages of groundwater are its quality, its closeness and its resistance to drought. Both types of water source must be carefully managed for the long term by well-trained technicians.

Today the South Bay still relies on groundwater. San Jose pumps about 40 percent of its water from aquifers beneath it. Nearby Sunnyvale, Campbell and Santa Clara also produce significant amounts. Farther south, Morgan Hill and Gilroy rely exclusively on groundwater. And Fremont has a big stake in it too.

San Jose used to pump more aggressively than today, but problems arose when the land began to sink. Parts of Alviso, on the city's northern edge, recorded as much as 13 feet of subsidence. Seawater began to intrude into the aquifers as well. Today water managers have arrested the subsidence by ensuring that the aquifer is properly recharged using streamflow and special infiltration basins.

Much of Fremont's water comes from its bountiful aquifer in the Niles Cone, a large fan of gravel spreading out from the mouth of Alameda Canyon. Today the city sends Alameda Creek's water into the Cone through the Quarry Lakes, while pumping groundwater out of it in a strategy that helps push back invading Bay water.

San Francisco, of course, gets pristine Sierra water from O'Shaunnessy Dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Only one-third of Hetch Hetchy's water gets to the city, though, as more than a dozen other Bay Area cities use it.

_{Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct crosses the Great Valley near route 132, marked by monuments like this.}

The city still uses its own groundwater to irrigate Golden Gate Park and the zoo. Recently San Francisco has moved to reopen the aquifers as an emergency supply. It's also making plans to store Hetch Hetchy water in Peninsula aquifers.

Although large-scale water projects serve the masses, there is still a place for the custom well. Outlying residents, farms and landscape-intensive businesses can often save money using water from their own property. Today these uses of groundwater provide our region with much-needed resilience in the face of drought and earthquake. Wherever we live, the role of groundwater continues—just below the surface.

Major water districts of the Bay Area:

Alameda County Water District
Contra Costa Water District
East Bay Municipal Utilities District
Marin Municipal Water District
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
San Jose Water
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Solano County Water Agency
Sonoma County Water Agency

And don't forget water-ed.org

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The guts of the system are hidden underground.

They LOVE announcing like, squawking little birds, exactly what it is I'm doing in there. They knock each other over for the chance to flush the toilet. But it seems the best part of all is giving it a hero’s send-off: "Bye-Bye, Poo-Poo! Bye-Bye, Poo-Poo! Bye-Bye, Poo-Poo!" Apart from it just being sort of fun to say, I don’t think that I’m imagining that they are experiencing a kind of satisfaction in making it go away. Call me jaded but I think my own enthusiasm for the process has faded somewhat since I was their age. But after producing Wastewater Woes: Sewage Spills in SF Bay, I've learned some things about sewage collection and wastewater treatment systems that are good to be aware of.

When one of the 47 wastewater treatment plants around the bay has a spill or an overflow during wet weather, it's unlikely that Bay Area residents consider that it was caused by anything that we've done or neglected to do. But I learned that one of the main reasons for so many sewage spills in San Francisco Bay- both from the treatment plants and the collection systems underground- is that those of us who use and depend on the sewage system don't really understand it. Water and sewage customers need to be conscious of a few key facts:

• The water that's flushed down the toilet, used to wash clothes or dishes, or runs while we brush our teeth ultimately ends up getting treated then is discharged into the bay or the ocean.

• Putting grease down the drain, flushing rags, feminine hygiene products or anything but toilet paper down the toilet can lead to blocked sewage pipes and dangerous spills in the collection systems.

• Years of neglecting our cracked and crumbling sewage collection systems, including privately-owned sewage lateral pipes that connect every single home and business to the city-owned sewage mains, has resulted in the inflow of great volumes of rainwater to the collection system as well as spills and overflows downstream at treatment plants.

Sure, sewage is not the most pleasant thing to contemplate and it's understandable that most people don’t give it a second thought because the guts of the system are hidden underground. But it is precisely this "out of sight, out of mind" mentality that has led to untreated sewage spills in San Francisco Bay becoming a significant source of pollution that can have harmful impacts on people, animals and habitat. The cost of fixing the Bay Area's systems is estimated at several billion dollars. Obviously, that won't happen overnight. So in the meantime, have your own lateral inspected and repaired and don’t be surprised if your sewage rates continue to creep up.

For my own part, I will strive to teach my boys responsible flushing and instill in them a little bit of curiosity about what exactly happens AFTER we flush the toilet.

Watch the Wasterter Woes: Sewage Spills in SF Bay television story online.

UPDATE: Also see our Interactive Map of Bay Area publicly-owned sewage treatment plants and spills.

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Here in the Bay Area, projects to use recycled wastewater aren't as advanced. Still, John Stufflebean, director of environmental services for the City of San José, says it’s in the cards for San José. The city has started its own educational effort. Stufflebean is one of the city officials that give regular guided tours of the San José/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant in northern San José. The process really is quite a sight. The gray and smelly raw wastewater comes in on one end, and at the end of a three-step process — once again clean and transparent — either trickles back into the Bay or is used to irrigate golf courses and farms. Stufflebean says that people on the tour often ask why this water can’t be used for drinking. With some additional steps, it could. Stay tuned. Perhaps in the future it will.

Watch the "State of Thirst: California's Water Future" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.

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