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PUC says WESIP moving into construction; staff flags modest budget variance and environmental costs
Summary
WESIP director Julie Labonte reported progress across 86 projects — 18 in construction and 28 complete — highlighted large active projects (Tesla, Crystal Springs tunnel) and cited environmental management spending during construction ($53M) plus roughly $145M for environmental review and mitigation; staff flagged a $23M forecast variance and said favorable bids and recent bond sales should help close the gap.
Julie Labonte, director of the Water System Improvement Program (WESIP), briefed the commission on Sept. 8 on program progress, schedule and costs for the quarter covering April through July.
Labonte said the program now counts 86 projects in total, with more than two-thirds in bid/award or later phases. “As of July 1, we have 18 projects currently in construction and 28 projects have been completed,” she said. She highlighted the Tesla treatment facility (large-diameter pipelines and a chemical feed facility), ongoing short-term improvements at the Harry Tracy treatment plant needed before a planned Coast Range Tunnel shutdown, and the Crystal Springs Bypass Tunnel project (about 26 percent complete as of July 1), where staff reported tunnel-boring-machine assembly and shaft work are underway.
On costs and schedule, Labonte told the commission staff had approved a new program completion date of December 2015 and identified a forecast variance: she reported an approved budget that included financing costs (as presented to the commission) and a current forecast that shows roughly a $23,000,000 variance. Labonte said favorable bidding in the market and the PUC’s recent bond sales give staff confidence they “will be able to make up this overall variance.”
She also flagged environmental management commitments: the program expects to spend about $53,000,000 on environmental management during and after construction in addition to approximately $145,000,000 on environmental review, permitting and mitigation. Labonte said the draft EIR for the Calaveras Dam replacement project was scheduled for release at the end of the month and that design for Calaveras is about 95 percent complete but cannot be finalized until CEQA review and permitting are finished.
Commissioners asked for additional, policy-level briefings on the Calaveras EIR and on other large WESIP projects so the commission can track key policy tradeoffs (water rights, rights-of-way, and impacts). Labonte and staff said they will provide an update timed to the draft EIR release and will add key WESIP milestone reports to the advanced calendar.
Next steps: staff will post the new quarterly summary document to the PUC website, circulate timing for upcoming draft EIRs, and return with scheduled briefings so commissioners can review policy implications before final approvals.
