To the Editor:

Re “Hetch Hetchy’s Past and Future” (editorial, Feb. 17):

With California’s arid climate and growing population, fights over water have become a way of life and water storage a growing necessity. As if on cue to remind us, this year our state is experiencing one of the driest seasons on record.

The reliable water and hydroelectric power provided by the Hetch Hetchy system serve the needs of 2.6 million people in 30 Bay Area cities. This system has allowed places like Silicon Valley, the technological capital of the world, to thrive, with the world benefiting from the resulting innovation.

I see firsthand how wisely our ratepayers use water. We’re also investing in the use of recycled water, groundwater, rainwater and graywater. By June, more than six million gallons a day of recycled water will complement the 40 million gallons a day of groundwater used.

But these measures alone won’t be enough to replace the 117 billion gallons of water stored at Hetch Hetchy. And contrary to your editorial, the system’s other downstream reservoirs can’t store this water either. The combined capacity of all the remaining drinking-water reservoirs in the system adds up to only 66 percent of the total storage in Hetch Hetchy.