Can a Booming Bay Area Avoid Running Out of Water?

People love living in the San Francisco Bay Area. They love it so much that the region’s population is projected to grow from 7 million today to 9 million by 2040. All those folks are flocking to the region to be part of an enormous economic success story.

Trouble is, all those people are going to need water. Water to drink and flush their toilets and wash the windows on those shiny new office buildings. Right now, there is enough to meet the demand, according to “Future-Proof Water,” a new report from the Bay Area good-government organization SPUR. But thanks to climate change, rising sea levels, and the likelihood of major earthquakes, that could all change very quickly. The water supply that sustains all this activity could be dramatically reduced, compromised, or disrupted.