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SFPUC workshop flags shrinking Sierra snowpack, suggests studying Hetch Hetchy reservoir options
Summary
At a Public Utilities Commission workshop, SFPUC staff and commissioners described risks to San Francisco's water supply from projected Sierra snowpack declines and sea-level rise and said the agency must study responses, including controversial options such as raising Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. No decision was made.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission used a public workshop to shift the conversation from whether climate change is happening to how the utility should respond to its effects on local water and wastewater services.
President Richard Sklar opened the session by saying the meeting's focus was operational: “What do we do to maintain the trust obligations we have to supply water to this city in the years ahead,” he said, framing the discussion around three impacts: reductions in Sierra snowpack, sea-level rise and more intense storms in the city.
Assistant General Manager for Water Michael O'Carlin told commissioners the Sierra snowpack acts as an annual reservoir, melting slowly from February through June and feeding Hetch Hetchy as well as other upcountry storage. He said average annual snowpack on long-term measures can be roughly 600,000 acre-feet and that Hetch Hetchy reservoir capacity is about 366,000 acre-feet. "A 30% to 90% reduction in that snowpack would have serious impact on our ability to deliver the essential water here in the city," he said.
The commission's president suggested several responses, including increasing man-made storage, greater groundwater use where feasible, and demand measures such as "dual pricing" to discourage discretionary summer use. He also explicitly floated a controversial option: studying whether to raise Hetch Hetchy Reservoir's capacity. He cautioned this was an idea for discussion, not a decision.
Public commenters raised immediate environmental and legal concerns. Heather Dempsey, with the Tuolumne River Trust, urged the commission to drop efforts to enlarge Hetch Hetchy, saying the proposal would flood more of the Tuolumne River and affect a wild and scenic river within a national park.
Tom Franz, Assistant General Manager of the Wastewater Enterprise, described sea-level risks for sewer and treatment systems. "Just a change of a foot would really inundate us already," Franz said, warning that saltwater intrusion into sewers and treatment facilities is an urgent planning issue.
SFPUC staff said they have begun technical work: the utility has hired hydrology expertise, is coordinating with USGS and university researchers, and has an early Citizens' Advisory Committee study underway. Commissioners instructed staff to continue developing technical analysis and to return with concrete assessments that would support future policy choices.
The workshop produced no policy vote. Commissioners and staff agreed on the need for longer-term analysis and public engagement before any decisions about storage expansions or major infrastructure changes.
What's next: staff will continue technical studies on snowpack, sea-level impacts and system options and report back to the commission for a go/no-go decision point informed by the studies and public input.
