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SFPUC warns water supply remains precarious; WSIP hits major milestones amid cost pressures
Summary
SFPUC leaders told commissioners that recent storms improved snowpack but reservoir storage remains below average, prompting a 10% voluntary conservation call and accelerated planning for repairs to fire‑damaged conveyance. The WSIP is largely complete but faces cost and schedule overruns on several major projects, including Calaveras Dam.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission heard detailed updates on system water supply and the Water System Improvement Program on Feb. 11, with staff warning that recent storms helped but did not eliminate drought risk.
Deputy General Manager Michael Carlin told the commission the agency has estimated Rim Fire damages and received an insurance advance of $1,600,000. He said staff has applied for roughly $4.4 million in state hazardous‑funding mitigation to offset response costs and that the agency prepared a novel report valuing environmental impacts from the fire.
Assistant General Manager for Water Steve Ritchie said total reservoir storage is about 1 million acre‑feet, roughly 69% of maximum, and that while recent storms raised the snowpack there is still a shortfall versus historical averages. Ritchie said Hetch Hetchy is…
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