Audit committee hears SFPUC27s EFWS annual report; item continued for six-month follow-up

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors27 Government Audit and Oversight Committee on July 2 received the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission27s first annual Emergency Firefighting Water System (EFWS) report and agreed to continue the item to the call of the chair, scheduling a follow-up hearing in roughly six months to review progress on key studies and planned work.

Chair Marr opened the remote hearing by stressing urgency around EFWS expansion, saying the aim is "to make sure that when our city burns as it has and will again we have water to put out the fire." Presenters from the SFPUC and the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning said the FY2019-20 EFWS annual report was submitted to the Board on June 30.

John Scarpulla, Manager of Policy and Government Affairs for the SFPUC, described the EFWS as a high-pressure water system whose primary supply is the Hetch Hetchy regional water system, with seawater available via two seawater pump stations as a secondary source. He said ownership transferred to the SFPUC in 2010 and that the Management Oversight Committee (the SFFD chief, the Public Works director, the SFPUC general manager and the assistant general manager for water) must approve system improvements before implementation.

Scarpulla reported two incidents this fiscal year in which EFWS resources were used, including a Feb. 29 four-alarm fire at Tolan and Evans in Bayview (District 10). He said SFPUC and the San Francisco Fire Department completed more than 27,000 hours of maintenance on firefighting water infrastructure, finished four capital projects (including upgrades to Pump Station 11), and began construction at Pump Station 2 near Van Ness. He also said the SFPUC is planning pipeline work and design for a potential West Side project that is undergoing environmental review.

Scarpulla described recent emergency exercises: a Pier 90 seawater manifold drill and a Bay Bridge pump-station and standpipe drill that simulated a major fire on the western span. The fire department developed new procedures based on the Bay Bridge exercise, and SFPUC and SFFD now plan quarterly interagency EFWS drills. The agencies are also updating a 2015 memorandum of understanding covering operations and maintenance of the EFWS; the update slipped because of the COVID-19 pandemic but was expected in the coming months.

Heather Green, Capital Planning Director and Deputy Resilience Officer for the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning, put the EFWS work in the context of the city27s recent general obligation (G.O.) bond. She said the bond package totals $628,500,000 and that roughly $153,500,000 of that was estimated for EFWS upgrades and related public-safety priorities. She said project selection will be guided by the systems technical steering committee and the Management Oversight Committee.

On procurement, a San Francisco Fire Department representative said a new hose tender vehicle is out to bid; because it is a custom apparatus the typical approach is to procure one prototype, work out issues, then procure additional units. The department27s initial plan was to buy five units, but the speaker said budget reductions may affect timing.

On studies called for in a board resolution and by the Civil Grand Jury, SFPUC staff said a neighborhood-level post-seismic water-demand analysis is underway (work led by Professor Charles Cawthorn/Thorn, with projections through 2050) and that the agency has a proposed AECOM task order to study seawater sources and pumping-station options covering the West Side as well as northern and eastern areas of the city.

There were no public speakers for the item. Chair Marr moved to continue the hearing to the call of the chair and announced his intention to hold a follow-up hearing in approximately six months to review progress on the West Side seawater pumping-station study, the neighborhood demand analysis, and an upcoming Budget and Legislative Analyst report anticipated in the fall. John Scarpulla supported the timing. Supervisor Aaron Peskin thanked staff and advocates and emphasized West Side redundancy; the committee recorded Peskin, Haney and Marr as "ayes," and the motion carried 3-0.

Next steps: staff said CEQA review is required for project-level work and timing depends on those reviews; SFPUC and SFFD expect to provide the committee the requested reports and updates before the follow-up hearing.