Drought reveals holes in Bay Area water jurisdiction

Three years of drought have focused attention on the San Francisco Bay Area's Byzantine water distribution network, which allows some ratepayers to use water freely and restricts others from washing cars and watering lawns.

Kelly Zito of the San Francisco Chronicle reveals that threatened water supplies are forcing a re-examination of the differences between Southern California's highly integrated water transport system and the patchwork system set up in the Bay Area.

Any way you slice it, rates are going to go up -- which could force consumers to pay attention to the management of one of society's most precious resources.