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Commission approves roughly $10M amendment to URS contract for Calaveras Dam design and mitigation
Summary
The commission approved Amendment No. 3 to agreement CS716 with URS to add design, permitting and construction support for the Calaveras Dam replacement; staff cited natural‑occurring asbestos and fisheries mitigation as drivers and said the amendment increases the contract to about $24 million and extends performance by seven years.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission voted May 12 to approve Amendment No. 3 to the Calaveras Dam agreement (CS716) with URS Corporation, increasing the contract by about $10 million to a total near $24 million and extending the time for performance by seven years to cover design through construction support and commissioning.
WSIP staff said the additional funds are needed to address newly defined challenges encountered since earlier phases: natural‑occurring asbestos (NOA) and expanded fisheries mitigation requirements. The amendment covers additional design work to complete environmental mitigations, respond to state review comments, and provide engineering support during construction and reservoir filling.
Background and previous amendments: The original contract awarded for conceptual engineering was about $4 million (awarded in 2003); Amendment No. 1 increased the contract to about $12 million to initiate phases 2 and 3 (detailed and final design). Amendment No. 2 added roughly $1.9 million for additional environmental and engineering services. Staff told commissioners that the NOA and fisheries scope are now sufficiently defined to present a combined amendment for this additional funding and time.
Commission discussion and vote: Commissioners asked whether this would be the last amendment; staff said they expect this to cover the remaining major design and construction‑support needs but retained flexibility to issue smaller interim amendments if Board of Supervisors scheduling requires it. Commissioner motioned and the commission approved the amendment by voice vote.
Notes on amounts and transcript inconsistency: Agenda language presented to the commission described an increase of $10,000,000 for a total $24,000,000 agreement and a 7‑year time extension. In one passage of the staff presentation a $10,100,000 figure was also mentioned; staff characterized the amendment as covering the same combined scope. The article reports both figures and cites the agenda total in the lede as the action taken by the commission.
Next steps: Staff expects to present related Board of Supervisors approval materials (if required) and to proceed with the design, permitting and preparation for construction. The amendment is intended to let the project move forward without pausing while awaiting separate Board scheduling.
What the commission did: Approved Amendment No. 3 to URS agreement CS716 (voice vote) and the item passed at the meeting.
