PUC workshop lays out 25‑year sewer master plan, proposes nine 'levels of service'

Karen Kubik, introduced as director of the Sewer System Improvement Program, opened the commission’s special workshop by describing the system that must serve roughly “760,000 people in San Francisco,” and asking commissioners and stakeholders to help translate high‑level goals into measurable performance standards. The session explained the master‑planning process, guiding principles and three performance categories — regulatory/environmental, operational reliability and seismic reliability — and introduced nine proposed levels of service intended to guide project selection over a 20–25‑year program.

The presentation traced the plan’s origins to a voter‑approved charter mandate and a multi‑year public process that included surveys, more than 60 public meetings, a technical advisory team and a citizen‑advisory committee. Kubik said the master plan will remain a “living document” and that the commission is not being asked to adopt a final level of service at this workshop; instead staff will return with proposed metrics and project lists at future meetings,…