Crime & Safety
Rim Fire Reaches Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, Water Supply Safe
The majority—87 percent—of Mountain View's water comes from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.
The Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park has jumped to the fifth largest in California history, according to CAL FIRE officials.
The wildfire, whose cause remains under investigation, has burned 199,237 acres and destroyed 111 structures. It's only 23 percent contained.
But while the Rim Fire has reached the Hetch Hetchy water reservoir, from where Mountain View residents receive 87 percent of their water supply, local officials tell consumers not too worry—the water remains safe.
Find out what's happening in Mountain Viewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"We are taking our queues from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission," said Gregg A. Hosfeldt assistant Public Works director for the City of Mountain View. "They don’t perceive a severe issue or even a minor one."
According to the SFPUC, "no change or impact" to customers exists and to be safe they've "increased the amount of water delivery from Hetch Hetchy to our local reservoirs in the Alameda and Peninsula areas."Since before the Rim Fire began on Aug. 17, the SFPUC had started to transder water from the full Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to other reservoirs closer to San Francisco, and has now increased that amount from 275 million gallons to 302 million gallons a day as a precaution.
"We are pleased with how they are handling this," Hosfeldt said. "They are moving water and we think things are under controlled."
Hosfeldt further explained that "if something really critical happened" the city could access more water from current sources like the Santa Clara Valley Water District and its own groundwater wells.
Find out what's happening in Mountain Viewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Bay City News contributed reporting to this article.
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