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Environmental group warns PUC: water conservation gains may not have aided river flows
Summary
A Tuolumne River Trust representative told the SFPUC that customer conservation did not translate into environmental river flows during the drought and urged the commission to account for environmental water amid proposed developments, remarks offered during consideration of the Flower Mart water-supply assessment.
Peter Dreckmeier of the Tuolumne River Trust used public comment time to press the commission on environmental water allocations and the implications of redevelopment.
Dreckmeier recounted earlier negotiations over the Water System Improvement Program (WESIP) and said environmental groups agreed to a phased cap on water sales—"capping water sales at 2.65 MGD until this year, 2018"—but that conserved water had not reached rivers during the drought. "Did that conservation help the environment? No," he said, adding that the commission's retention of stored water and large captures last year had not benefitted river flows. He warned the PUC of "a potential PR crisis" if customers conclude their conservation had no environmental benefit.
During consideration of the Flower Mart water-supply assessment, Dreckmeier returned to the point, noting the project materials anticipate substantial office and retail floor area with no housing and arguing that increased water enabled by conservation and new supplies will primarily support development rather than environmental flows. The commission approved the water-supply assessment; no staff rebuttal to Dreckmeier's factual claims appears in the meeting transcript.
The commission did not modify the item on the record in response to the comments. Staff and commissioners did not provide a direct factual refutation of the assertion that conservation did not help river flows during the drought in the transcript record.
