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Committee backs $1.9 billion supplemental appropriation for PUC water projects, with reserve language for largest works
Summary
The committee approved forwarding a $1.9 billion supplemental appropriation for the Water System Improvement Program to the full board, adding finance-committee reserve language for very large projects and accepting analyst reductions and technical amendments.
The Board's Budget & Finance Committee voted to forward a supplemental appropriation request from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) totaling roughly $1.9 billion.
PUC General Manager Ed Harrington described the appropriation as a milestone tied to certification of the program EIR and said the timing offered opportunities for lower bid prices and economic stimulus through construction work. He said the PUC expects most large projects to require CEQA review and therefore return to the board for release from controller reserve once CEQA findings are made.
The committee adopted an amendment increasing the PUC's commercial-paper authorization from $250 million to $500 million to bridge short-term financing needs while market conditions stabilize. The budget analyst proposed minor reductions to the supplemental appropriation (approximately $11.6 million) and descriptive corrections; the PUC accepted those recommendations.
Supervisors asked the PUC to return large projects (suggested threshold: $100 million) to the finance committee for release from controller reserve; the PUC agreed. The committee forwarded the amended supplemental appropriation to the full Board of Supervisors.
