Chapter 12, The Great Plains and Prairies

The Great Plains covers southern Texas all the way up to the Canadian border.  This includes the states Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.  The landscape of the Plains and Prairies is a low, flat to rolling terrain.  In San Francisco the landscape is mostly hills.  There are more than 50 hills within the city.  Near the center of the city are more densely populated hills.  Mount Davidson is the highest hill at 925ft.
 
Mount Davidson Cross, http://www.f-stopped.com/

Unlike the Plains, where there is extreme weather, tornado frequency, and more than enough days of hail, the City's climate is mostly influenced by the cool ocean breeze which keeps most of the bay area cool.  This produces a year-round climate with little temperature change.
 
view of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, http://www.chamoismoon.com/

As water is an important resource in the Great Plains and is underlain by the Ogallala aquifer, in San Francisco the water is monitored by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC).  According to http://www.sfwater.org/, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Natural Resources and Land Management Division is responsible for the management of 63,000 acres of watershed lands.  Located in three counties, the lands contain the water supply storage, transmission, and treatment systems which serve 2.4 million people all over the Bay Area. 

SFPUC Water, Power, and Wastewater System, http://www.franciscodacosta.com/