Last fall’s Dubai Star oil spill, coming less than two years after the Cosco Busan debacle, reminded Bay Area residents of the bay eco-system’s vulnerability.  While changes in municipal sewage treatment systems have led to improved water quality, challenges remain related to storm water runoff, invasive species, coastal development, climate change and oil spills.  “The bay belongs to all of us living in the Bay Area,” said Jessica Castelli, communications director for Save the Bay, the oldest regional organization dedicated to the bay’s health. “Our economy and quality of life here depend on a healthy bay.”

With California in the middle of a drought, and water prices on the rise, property owners are turning to water saving toilets and other devices to reduce residential and commercial water use.   Nonprofit San Francisco Community Power (SF Power), with funding from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), recently launched a program to install 2,000 high efficiency toilets for free to qualifying homes and small businesses in San Francisco.