Recognizing their precarious position, city leaders started searching for freshwater elsewhere, even asking the federal government for permission to dam the Tuolumne River at the start of the 20th century. ((Lindsey Moore/KQED))Īs the population grew, San Francisco became increasingly dependent on a private company called Spring Valley Water, which had bought up the freshwater sources to the south of the city. The Sunol water temple was built to mark the spot where 3 sources of water come together in Alameda County. That was more than most residents’ entire day’s pay. Barrels of it were sold in the streets for as much as one gold dollar per bucket. Drinking water had to be barged in from Marin County. There wasn’t much of it, especially once the Gold Rush started and the population of San Francisco ballooned. “The worst problem - and they realized this from the beginning - was water.” “But for every other reason, it was a terrible place to establish a mission,” said Mitch Postel, the president of the San Mateo County Historical Society. It was the perfect point from which to control the entrance to the bay. When the Spaniards chose the location for what’s now San Francisco, it was for strategic reasons. The story of these temples begins back in the 1770s.
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