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SFPUC hears staff, conservation groups clash over Bay-Delta water plan and Tuolumne River flows
Summary
SFPUC staff warned a State Water Board proposal for higher unimpaired flows on the Tuolumne River could sharply increase rationing and require major new storage. Conservation groups and river advocates disputed that framing and urged support for higher flow targets, habitat investments and negotiated settlements. Public comments are due March 17, 2017.
San Francisco — At a Feb. 28 meeting of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, staff laid out how the State Water Board's Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan amendment could affect the city's water supply and the Tuolumne River ecosystem, and drew sharp public response from conservation groups and river advocates.
Steve Ricci, Assistant General Manager for Water, told commissioners that under the state's proposed 40% unimpaired flow objective for February through June the utility would likely face significantly more frequent and deeper rationing years. Ricci said the agency's design-drought planning shows a potential 900,000 acre-feet storage gap that would need to be closed by new storage projects or other major investments such as groundwater banking, indirect potable…
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