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PUC reports progress on Watershed and Environmental Improvement Program; lands and partners prioritized
Summary
Staff reported WIP accomplishments and plans across the Tuolumne, Alameda and Peninsula watersheds, highlighted partnerships (National Park Service, USFS, USFWS), and noted a push to leverage bond and operating funds to protect high-priority private lands by easement or acquisition.
Tim Ramirez presented a status report on the Watershed and Environmental Improvement Program (WIP), summarizing five years of work and priorities for the next four. He reminded commissioners that the WIP was seeded with Measure A bond funds and that the program aims to protect and restore lands critical to the water supply system.
Ramirez described three focus areas: Upper Tuolumne River collaboration with the National Park Service and federal partners (work underway on O'Shaughnessy releases and related recommendations); Alameda Watershed outreach to private landowners with partners such as the Resource Conservation District and the Nature Conservancy; and Peninsula Watershed work on sudden oak death mitigation in coordination with UC Berkeley and the US Forest Service. He said WIP funding consists of $20 million in bond funds and an additional $30 million in operating budget commitments over the program's 10-year horizon.
Commissioners asked about capacity for land management after acquisitions and the staff said management costs will be tracked and brought into budget deliberations. The commission approved item 19 that advances an Alameda watershed acquisition project for consideration.
