Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Urban Water Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
SFPUC adopts 2010 Urban Water Management Plan, certifies it for CEQA water supply assessments
Summary
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission adopted its five‑year Urban Water Management Plan and certified that the plan can be used for CEQA water supply assessments; commissioners raised concerns about wholesale demand assumptions and asked staff to tighten language and return with targeted edits.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on a unanimous voice vote adopted the 2010 Urban Water Management Plan and certified that the plan may be used for California Environmental Quality Act water supply assessments.
Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager for water, told the commission the plan updates supply and demand projections through 2035, finds that retail per‑capita use complies with the Water Conservation Act of 2009 and that under current interim wholesale allocations retail demands can be met. Ritchie said wholesale customer projections exceed the interim cap in some dry‑year scenarios and that the plan documents those uncertainties and policy questions that remain for post‑2018 supply decisions.
Commissioners pressed staff on the legal import of the plan for wholesale customers and on the methodology behind demand projections. Commissioner Moran and others expressed concern that the wholesale section relies on external data the commission did not generate and urged clearer descriptions of assumptions and uncertainties. The city attorney advised that adopting the plan is important for eligibility for state funding and drought assistance.
Public commenters and stakeholder groups largely praised the plan’s demand‑management measures while urging additions: environmental advocates asked for clearer climate‑change language and for assigning yields to nonpotable supplies such as rainwater harvesting; local water advocates suggested incorporating figures for environmental enhancement surcharge and Raker Act context. Staff said they would bring the commission a set of targeted, descriptive edits to strengthen the plan’s preface, climate language and wholesale‑section caveats without changing the underlying numbers.
The commission approved adoption of the plan with the understanding that staff will incorporate the descriptive edits and return a revised version in short order. The next five‑year update is scheduled for 2015.
