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SFPUC hears hours of testimony as groundwater project moves toward controlled start
Summary
At a July 11 SFPUC hearing staff outlined plans to ramp up groundwater pumping to 1,000,000 gallons per day in the first year and ultimately up to a modeled 4,000,000 gpd, while residents and advocacy groups urged more data and stronger outreach on water quality and neighborhood impacts.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission devoted a large portion of its July 11 meeting to the San Francisco Groundwater Project, a long‑planned effort to diversify the city's supplies by blending locally pumped groundwater with regional water. Assistant General Manager for Water Steve Ritchie told commissioners the program will begin slowly — targeting about 1,000,000 gallons per day on average in its first full year of operation — both to exercise equipment and to observe how the Westside basin responds.
Ritchie said the project has years of study behind it, with construction nearing completion on four of six wells and pipeline work largely in place. Modeling indicates the Westside basin could sustainably yield roughly 4,000,000 gallons per day, he said, but staff stressed a cautious ramp‑up to avoid seawater intrusion and other risks.
The presentation said blending groundwater with the regional water supply will meet state and federal drinking‑water standards and that the Department of Public Health has supported blending as an appropriate treatment strategy. Ritchie highlighted that monitoring shows concentrations of constituents such as nitrate, manganese and hexavalent chromium would remain well below health‑based maximum contaminant levels in the projected blends.
Public comment was extensive and mixed. Environmental and business groups including the Bay Area Water Stewards, the Bay Area Council and BOSCA urged the commission to implement groundwater as a resilience measure against drought and regulatory curbs on regional supplies. Several members of the SFPUC Citizens Advisory Committee also voiced formal support and offered to partner on outreach.
Opponents and skeptical residents asked for more detail. The Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods said conservation and other measures have reduced demand and questioned whether the project is necessary in the near term. Community residents in some remarks questioned reliance on federal/state standards and asked for more granular testing results rather than chart bars that show concentrations 'below' regulatory thresholds.
Several speakers urged the commission to adopt additional precautionary steps such as enhanced public reporting, outside expert review and, in some cases, filtration beyond disinfection to guard against low‑level contaminants. SFPUC staff responded that a detailed water‑quality work plan is being developed and that expanded sampling, focused outreach and routine reporting are priorities as pumping begins and scales up.
There was no formal action on the Groundwater Project at the meeting; the session served as a public hearing and staff briefing. Commissioners and staff agreed to continue public engagement and to return with further materials, including the more detailed water‑quality plans and monitoring commitments.
