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PUC Seeks $117M in Reserves as Calaveras Dam Redesign Adds $157M and 25 Months to WSIP Project
Summary
The Public Utilities Commission told supervisors the Calaveras Dam replacement faces unexpected geologic conditions requiring a redesign that adds roughly $157 million in costs and about 25 months to the schedule; the committee approved releasing $117 million from WSIP reserves to continue construction while PUC seeks further savings and will return with a revised program-level plan.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday told the Board of Supervisors— Budget & Finance Committee that unexpected geologic conditions found above the Calaveras Dam spillway require a redesign that will materially increase cost and duration of the replacement project.
Julie Levante, PUC director, said exploratory work identified features that forced a redesign of a slope that will generate about 3 million cubic yards of material to remove and dispose of. PUC estimated an additional 25-month delay and a total construction cost increase of about $157 million attributable to the revised design and associated work.
"We are estimating a delay of 25 months and additional costs totaling $157,000,000," Levante told the committee, noting that only about 15 percent of that additional cost is what the department termed "inefficiency" (extra costs that would have been avoidable with different design information), with the remainder arising from substantive scope changes required by the subsurface conditions.
The PUC asked the committee to approve a release of $117 million from the Water System Improvement Program management reserve to continue construction work and address the additional construction costs immediately while the commission and staff negotiate change orders with contractors and pursue program offsets.
Budget staff noted that adding the requested $117 million to the earlier approved Calaveras budget would increase the project budget and consume a significant portion of the program management reserve. The Budget Legislative Analyst recommended that the PUC report back to the committee on responses to the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency—s (BAWSCA) recommendations for additional cost savings and that the PUC return with more detail on compensating savings.
The committee approved CEQA findings related to the Calaveras modification and moved to release $117 million from the WSIP reserve to the project, with PUC committing to return to the committee in April/May with additional revisions, reporting on recommended savings and potential program adjustments.
What happens next: PUC staff said they will continue negotiating change orders, pursue savings across other WSIP projects where possible to offset the Calaveras increase, and return to the commission and this committee with more detailed cost revisions and savings analyses before seeking any additional financing authority.
