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Public raises environmental, climate and Tuolumne River concerns at WSIP draft EIR hearing
Summary
At a lengthy Sept. 20 hearing, residents, environmental groups and wholesale customers urged more robust analysis in the SFPUC Water System Improvement Program draft PEIR, focusing on projected demand, a proposed additional 25M gallons/day from the Tuolumne River, conservation/recycling alternatives and climate change impacts.
The Planning Commission opened a public hearing Sept. 20 on the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s draft Program Environmental Impact Report for the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP). Planning staff emphasized that the hearing sought comments on the adequacy of the draft PEIR rather than decisions on project approval; the Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) will later hold hearings to certify the program.
Speakers ranged from wholesale customer representatives and regional water agencies to environmentalists, anglers and neighborhood activists. Stephen Miller, representing the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), urged emphasis on completing seismic upgrades and said wholesale customers remain dedicated to conservation. Environmental groups — including the Sierra Club and Tuolumne River advocates — said the draft PEIR insufficiently justifies the need for increased diversions from the Tuolumne River and fails to explore higher levels of conservation, recycling and demand‑management.
Several speakers highlighted a projected addition of 25,000,000 gallons per day from the Tuolumne as a central concern and urged that the PEIR better analyze alternatives and climate‑change impacts on Sierra snowpack and runoff timing. Testimony also raised process concerns: many public commenters noted limited notice and the technical scale of the draft (multiple volumes, thousands of pages) and asked for more time and briefing from SFPUC to allow meaningful public review.
Planning staff recorded comments for the formal comment‑and‑response document. Commissioners asked that staff coordinate with SFPUC on additional briefings and that the PEIR respond to climate‑change sensitivity, conservation potential, updated employment/population projections and baseline hydrology to inform any decision about expanded diversions.
