Dan Wade, director of water capital programs with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, told commissioners on Nov. 26 the first-quarter update for the Hetch Hetchy Capital Improvement Program covered a mix of completed work, grant-funded mitigations and items staff decided to split from current contracts.

Wade said “the 2018 Mountain Tunnel interim repairs are now completed,” and that the Mountain Tunnel Improvements Project had a mitigated negative declaration under the California Environmental Quality Act issued and that staff had advertised the project for construction bidding. He added that the pre-bid meeting was taking place at Moccasin as the report was presented.

The report also noted “substantial completion” for the Lower Cherry Aqueduct rehabilitation and that the Early Intake Switchyard slope-hazard mitigation work had been awarded and a notice to proceed issued; Wade said a FEMA hazard-mitigation grant of about $900,000 partially funds the switchyard protection work. ABAG (the Association of Bay Area Governments) provided a $3,000,000 drought-relief grant that partially funded the Lower Cherry diversion project, he said.

On the Warrenville Substation rehabilitation project, Wade said the work had successfully reenergized Modesto Irrigation District lines 7 and 8, but the commission’s staff “decided in the best interest of the city, to delete the installation of the 2 30 kV breakers from the scope,” citing “lack of confidence in the contractor’s ability to meet our tight schedule shutdown window” and nonconformance. Wade said the PUC is negotiating change orders with the contractor and expects to bring a separate contract to finish that scope in roughly two years.

Wade also reviewed remaining work from the March 2018 storm event, noting replacement of Gate 3 and installation of upstream debris barriers were now substantially complete, and that a downstream flood-control berm to protect the fish hatchery was in construction and anticipated to finish in the near term.

Public commenters raised several operational and planning questions while Wade took questions. Commenter Richard Acosta asked about the original Jacobs inspection report on the Mountain Tunnel, how much Jacobs was paid, and a line‑item accounting from the initial inspection to the current repairs; he asked the commission to provide those records under the Freedom of Information Act. Acosta and other speakers also urged the commission to clarify energy planning for the Southeast Treatment Plant digesters and to brief commissioners on projected energy needs for those systems. Commissioners and staff committed to follow up with the requested information.

Why it matters: the Hetch Hetchy system supplies regional water and carries high public-safety and environmental risks if projects are delayed or mis-scoped. Grant funding and FEMA/hazard mitigation money are helping limit local ratepayer exposure, but staff told the commission that some work will require rebidding or a separate contract because of contractor performance risks.

The commission did not take an action on the CIP presentation itself; staff said the projects will return for procurement or construction approvals as required.

The PUC’s CEQA filings, the ABAG drought grant and the FEMA hazard‑mitigation award were all cited in the presentation; staff said the Mountain Tunnel Improvements Project’s mitigated negative declaration was released for public comment and adopted by the commission on Nov. 12, 2019.