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SFPUC reports large Calaveras cost, 25‑month delay and major disposal need for WESIP
Summary
The SFPUC's Water System Improvement Program (WESIP) now forecasts about $150.6 million in regional cost increases tied mainly to the Calaveras replacement project, a 25‑month schedule delay, and the generation of roughly 3 million additional cubic yards of excavated material requiring approved disposal sites.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission heard a quarterly WESIP update that identified substantial cost and schedule impacts largely driven by unforeseen subsurface conditions at the Calaveras replacement project.
Julie Labonte, presenting the WESIP report, said staff now forecast regional project costs to exceed the approved budget by about $150,600,000, with nearly all of that variance associated with the Calaveras replacement. Labonte said the contractor presented three schedule options and staff selected one that adds 25 months to the Calaveras schedule. She told the commission the team identified a geologic landslide feature discovered after the full face of the slope was exposed; this required redesign of the permanent slope to a flatter profile and generated approximately 3,000,000 additional cubic yards of material that must be disposed of at approved sites.
Labonte said staff plans to use remaining contingency, management reserve funds and identified savings to absorb the cost increases: the packet reported a management reserve balance of about $117,000,000 available to cover increases and an additional roughly $40,000,000 in savings that could be moved to replenish construction contingency. She emphasized that only 12–15% of the additional costs are premium costs that might have been avoided; the remainder reflects the newly exposed geologic conditions that could not reasonably have been identified in preconstruction borings.
Commissioners pressed staff on whether the issue could reoccur with future dam raising; Labonte said the design will include an enlarged foundation built on competent ground so the specific problem would not repeat under the planned enlargement. Staff also outlined next steps: obtain a contractor cost proposal by the end of the month, negotiate changes (estimated to take about a month), provide 30 days' notice to wholesale customers under AB 1823, and seek commission approval of schedule and budget changes in early February.
The commission received consultant and public comments affirming close monitoring of costs while calling for assurance other program commitments be maintained on schedule where possible. Labonte closed noting WESIP's safety performance and industry recognition despite the Calaveras challenges.
