Subcommittee limits immediate Calaveras Dam reserve release pending settlement, advances funding and CEQA items to Board

The subcommittee heard a comprehensive update from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) and considered multiple actions related to the Calaveras Dam replacement project.

SFPUC General Manager Ed Harrington and program lead Julie Labonte summarized the program as a multiyear capital effort initiated in 2002 with a current budget of $4.6 billion and an expected completion of major improvements by the end of 2015. Labonte said the program includes 86 projects—40 local projects that primarily benefit San Francisco residents and 46 regional projects serving wholesale agencies— and reported a regional program forecast that shows a $175 million cost underrun and local program forecasted cost overrun of $31 million driven largely by water‑supply projects.

Dan Wade, Calaveras project manager, described Calaveras Reservoir as the SFPUC’s largest local reservoir (about 100,000 acre‑feet) and said the existing dam, built in 1925 and modified in 1974, must be replaced to meet current seismic standards. The requested actions included releasing a reserve of $330,510,906 to fund construction and related costs, adopting CEQA findings and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP), and directing the Clerk of the Board to notify the Controller.

Wade said the SFPUC received an appeal of the final EIR from the East Bay Regional Park District on 2011‑02‑14. As staff responded to environmental comments, the project team developed a variant that includes measures to improve steelhead access to the Alameda Creek watershed (additional flows, a fish ladder, and fish screens). SFPUC staff said they also negotiated a settlement agreement to address coordination and recreational access concerns raised by the park district; approval of that settlement is subject to Board action.

The budget analyst recommended approving CEQA findings and, subject to approval of the proposed settlement, releasing $17,698,697 from the committee reserve now (including $6.9 million in construction‑related pre‑work and $2.0 million budgeted for settlement costs) and replacing the remaining $312,812,209 with a controller’s reserve to be released after the lowest responsive construction bid is received plus a 10% contingency. The analyst warned that delaying all releases until after bids (currently due 2011‑04‑21) could delay project construction.

Public commenters representing labor and local hire advocates asked the SFPUC to provide updates on local hiring and highlighted the tunnel training program that placed 10 graduates on projects. The committee agreed to continue the regular WSIP update to the call of the chair, approved the budget analyst’s recommendation to release the limited $17.7 million now while placing the remainder in controller’s reserve, and advanced the CEQA item to the Board without recommendation pending the outcome of the appeal and settlement. Related settlement and litigation appropriation items (Items 6 and 7) were handled in closed session; the committee moved item 6 forward without recommendation pending the FEIR appeal outcome and moved item 7 forward with recommendation.