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Tuolumne River Trust urges SFPUC to hold workshop on alternative water supply plan and reports spring‑run Chinook in river
Summary
Peter Drechmeyer of the Tuolumne River Trust reported that about 100 spring‑run Chinook salmon are holding below LaGrange Dam and urged the SFPUC to convene a workshop on the PUC’s Alternative Water Supply Plan; he later criticized PUC public engagement and urged further public workshops.
Peter Drechmeyer, policy director for the Tuolumne River Trust, used public comment periods during the meeting to report a recent observation of roughly 100 spring‑run Chinook salmon holding below LaGrange Dam and to press the commission to convene a workshop about the PUC’s Alternative Water Supply Plan.
Drechmeyer said the spring‑run Chinook were thought to be extirpated from the Tuolumne after the dams were built and that the fish “need to hold through the summer” but that water below LaGrange Dam “is going to get warm.” He asked the commission to “play a big role in coming up with the solution for that.”
In later public comments during the disclosure and bond discussion and again during the bond item, Drechmeyer criticized SFPUC staff engagement with outside groups, argued that the commission was not responsive to public input, and renewed his request for a workshop on the Alternative Water Supply Plan, citing previous workshops held between 2020 and 2022 and asking the commission to schedule another to hear the trust’s analysis.
There was no commission action on the requests during the meeting; commissioners and staff acknowledged the comments and said they would consider follow‑up.
