San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Postpones Water System Overhaul.

Byline: Ann E. Marimow

Nov. 5--Bay Area leaders are warning that many residents could be left without running water for up to two months after the next big earthquake unless the outdated system is quickly overhauled.

But the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which owns and operates the Hetch Hetchy system, has put off an estimated $4<29>billion in renovations with no guarantee of future approval.

Seventy percent of the people who rely on the water system -- which runs from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park to the Bay Area -- live in communities outside San Francisco, including Palo Alto, Mountain View, Redwood City, Fremont and parts of San Jose. But those communities have no say in the system.

"We're very vulnerable," Santa …