for water. man: when you take a look at how much people pay for water, as a percentage of median household income, it's usually less than 1%. and when you compare that to how much we pay for electricity and gas, cable tv, and internet, the bottom line is, in the united states, we don't pay a heck of a lot for water. curtis: at an average cost of about $2.50 for 1,000 gallons of tap water, it is a great bargain. garvin: but the rates that are being charged for water are insufficient to replace existing systems and to expand existing systems. narrator: because original infrastructure investments were frequently subsidized by the federal government, water pricing was often calculated without accounting for the initial cost to build the systems. we made major investments in assets in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. and for the first 40 years of that pipe, there really may not have been many maintenance requirements. we're past that period now. narrator: water pricing based only on day-to-day operation, an

water again. in other words, the water coming out of a wastewater treatment plant often enters the watershed, flows into intakes of drinking water treatment plants, and eventually finds its way right back to our faucets. it takes huge investments to ensure that wastewater and drinking water treatment plants function properly to maintain a safe water supply. we made the initial investments in the plants and the pipes.

of water. if you'd like to remove all the concrete and to have natural system to carry the water to protect you from flooding, you need to have almost one mile on each side of the river set aside for transport of rain. so in order for the city to have use of those lands around the river, concrete made it possible to have minimum land so the water can be carried to the ocean in the fastest possible way. but, unfortunately, because of population growth and poor housekeeping, people are putting a lot of pollutants on the street and the streets are the openings to our stormwater sewer system. in an average year, 4,000 to 5,000 tons of trash ends up in long beach. man: we've created a system to deal with flooding but inadvertently created a pathway for pollution to get into our waterways. narrator: los angeles county is beginning to develop ways to reduce the infrastructure's impact upon the environment. on the front lines of protecting the beaches, are the crews that clean out the stormwater system

"water, water everywhere, yet not a drop to drink." so went the complaint of the ancient mariner as he looked out over the salty brine. although the earth is sometimes referred to as the water planet, only a tiny fraction of this water is usable by human beings... and most of this fresh water comes not from above, but from beneath the earth's surface. this groundwater originates in various ways. water percolates continuously into the earth from lakes and rivers, for example. most important of all, however, is rainfall. [thunder] in some places, rain water readily disappears into the ground. of course, water doesn't get beneath the land surface with equal ease everywhere on the globe. when it lands on hard bedrock or asphalt pavement, it simply runs off to feed nearby streams and rivers. but if there are cracks or fissures in the surface rock, the water can pass through to collect underground. even hard rocks, such as basalt or granite, usually have some fractures in them through which water can permeate. other land surfaces consist of

of water.that city workers are trying to contain the damage but all of this mud and debris came down that is for the cleanup is going to take place. the water did not do that much damage but it is the mud that came spilling down. >> incredible video, thank you, jackie sissel >> let us take a look on google earth. that was jackie sissel and he is live at the bottom of the hill and you can see the damage. we move up to will tran and india's just below where the water main tank is and he is-just below the source. the path of the water it is pretty amazing to see that it did not create a landslide. and it created a path around the eartpattern of homes. >> we are going to coordinate the live shot and we will check in with will tran. >> george? >> yes are run the east bay we have been tracking a number of hot spots. are from the east bay highway no. 4. it was backed up, early because of problems in antioch. and at port chicago. there are continuing problems at 680 southbound. a new accident at to bel

we run water, power, and sewer. those are some of the biggest things involved in lead platinum. ♪ ♪ >> by late 2008 the project, as we got the contractor on board and we were able to start pricing it, we're a multi-, multi-, multi-million dollar over budget. >> the story a lot of people don't know after we got select today do this project, the first price we came in with was $180 million. and the city said, you know, this is a great building, but we just don't want to spend that much money. so, the project was on the verge of being canceled. >> if you're looking at why this building came to be, in many ways it also included mayor gavin newsome, particularly, who really had an affection for this building. he saw the design. he saw the potential. he wanted to make sure that that building got built. and he said, do what you need to do, but please, if you can make that building work, we need to have that building in civic center. >> i happened to be at a green conference santa clara. he said you shouldn't cancel that pr

if we don't protect water, we will be without water. we will be without industry, we will be without jobs, we will be without a healthy economy, and our people will be sick. so we don't really have a choice. we're going to find out why that's important. it's a question of, who's going to pay, how much you're going to be willing to pay in order to ensure that your children live the kind of life that we as americans have promised them. woman: and what we're going to do is get a marble to travel through your pipe. child: keep still! keep still! woman: aw, there's a clog in the drain. oh, there it is. [ laughing ] narrator: in the 19th century, foresighted leadership and innovative engineering established drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure that supported the growth of the nation. through much of the 20th century, we continued to invest, to ensure our public health, safety, and economy. but now, in the 21st century, we face the need to revisit our commitment to the buried assets and infrastructure that for so long have

again, we don't recycle any water. we're going to start importing water from daly city next week. we have some plans on the books to do 4 million gals by 2035. that's a fraction. the san francisco business times recbltly said san francisco's plans for the future are baby steps and it's disgraceful. prop f is about getting us away from that vision and getting us to plan for the future. >> sean, as a wrap up, the dollars that we're talking about here, whether it's a values debate, that's one thing, that's some of the language that i respect. but when i look at the dollars, i'm not sure, could you dra*e address how that the city and the controller's report? it seems to be a fairly vast effect. >> there's no question, this is a significant impact on the city but let's translate that for our viewers. it's an impact on the rate payers. this is not born by the city's budget, it's borne by everybody's monthly water bill. we know everybody's water bill is going to climb because we have to rebuild our sewer system. on top of that do we want to add many hundreds or perhaps thousands of dolla

could it be more water? >> you can see that this is mud a tremendous amount that has come down from somewhere we believe there is a water storage facility at the top of the hill that could be impacted one way or another. it is still a developing story. as we can confirm this. >> thank you. >> other headlines this morning we want to check out the weather. and erica cold temperatures although not as cold as yesterday in the rainfall. >> good morning, james river a lot to talk about it is a cold start. good morning,- james. >> with many people did not realize how cold it was with yesterday's having the day off but that cold air will hit you for the north bay valleys. 30's. for this afternoon, sunshine and a slightly warmer conditions. we will see more cloud coverage let us focus our attention we can see that it is 35 in daly city. 38 degrees in concord where exactly these temperatures will go in the chances of rainfall coming up in my next report. george? >> still slow in antioch. at sommersville road even on t

their water. folks are experiencing low water pressure. that could change today. some folks could lose gas in this area. excavation is expected to start today. b.g.e. crews have left the area of charles and north avenue. they have been digging up the area. chunks of the road are piling up on the sidewalk. they have not been able to get to the break. this will take quite some time. they can do anything until they get this water shut off safely. >> more than two dozen people lost their homes after a fire in anne arundel county. it's happened wednesday. 12 apartment units were severely damaged. about 30 people were displaced. >> sheila dixon could lose out on her pension after violating the terms of her probation. she had to pay $40,000 to charity after she was caught stealing gift cards. she is now in arrears. she said she was a victim of the economy. >> i will work harder to get this behind me. that is the bottom line. >> she is due in court next month and hopes to get the problem taken care of thi

45,000 gallons of water. it rushed down hill into a daly city neighborhood and brought the hill with it. mud filled streets and built a disgusting wall around several cars. concerned police officers ran from door-to-door to wake up the neighborhood. >> they ran at 5 in the morning several times and i woke up what is going on. they are like there's a mudslide you have to evacuate. >> reporter: members of the wong family had no idea how long they would be out of their home they packed two days worth of clothing and tried to navigate through the mud and water at 5:00 in the morning with suitcases. >> they said there's an evacuation center across the street from our house we couldn't get there because of the mud. >> reporter: when the sun came up she saw her car halfway covered in mud, sinking by the minute. >> it makes me want to cry it was my first car. >> reporter: after they stopped the water authorities decided to keep eight homes evacuated because of concerns the hillside could give way. the victoria family

you are in three feet of water. >> i'm in four feet of water. >> he says he has six feet of water inouse and no power or heat which is no surprise considering the amount of water here. ocean avenue is blocks away and it overflowed into his neighborhood. one look at this car and you can see the water won't be receding anytime soon. >> wow. e any idea when that neighborhood might get some relief? >> not soon enough. they don't expect power to be on for five to seven days. the problem here, as far as you can see is the water. that is because the ocean the atlantic is just at the end of this neighborhood so the water is locked in here. it is not going out with the low tide. but the good news is that tomorrow they are going to bring in massive pumps and they can pump 40 to 60,000 gallons of water per minute. 40 to 60,000 gallons per minute. they are hoping that some of this water here will make its way to that lake and they will be in better shape. >> yeah. yeah. so many places in need right now. when we come back. the victims of sandy. between life and death. et malib re-imagined from th

. >> four feet of water, yeah. >> michael says he has about six feet of water in his house, no poweror heat which is no surprise considering the amount of water here. ocean avenue is a few blocks away and the ocean dumped water this to nearby silver lake which overflowed in to michael's neighborhood. one look at this submerged car and you can see the water won't be receding anytime soon. >> randi kaye is joining us now. behind us you can see one of the national guard vehicles. there are several dozen vehicles here they have been using to patrol through the community here in hoboken and rescue people. they rescued 350 people in the last 24 hours since they have been here. in terms of where you were, any idea when that neighborhood belmar may get relief? >> just before our live hit here, we saw a member of the national guard come by. asked if we needed anything. was checking on the neighborhood. they are looking for relief very soon. it's cold here. they don't have any power. they don't have heat. that's because of the water that is sitting here behind me. still tonight it is four feet