Brown Breaks Ground on 1st Reservoir Project

Outgoing Mayor Willie Brown has broken ground on the first of 77 renovation projects at Summit Reservoir atop Twin Peaks, more than a year after San Francisco voters approved $1.6 billion in bonds to upgrade the Hetch Hetchy water delivery system.

The 14-million-gallon reservoir will be upgraded to meet seismic, building and health codes. Built in 1954, it provides drinking water and fire protection to residents in Twin Peaks. The groundbreaking was Thursday.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which was criticized for allowing the city to raid $600 million in agency revenue for other uses while the system fell into disrepair during the last two decades, promised to carefully monitor the 13-year capital improvement project.