Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Regional Planning And Water topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
SFPUC flags water‑supply implications of Plan Bay Area 2040; East Palo Alto set to receive permanent 1 MGD reassignment
Summary
SFPUC staff told commissioners Plan Bay Area 2040 projections could push in‑city retail demand toward ~85 MGD and the agency will submit comments to the Planning Department; separately, Mountain View was poised to consider a permanent transfer of 1,000,000 gpd to East Palo Alto for a $5 million one‑time payment.
Steve Ritchie, Assistant General Manager for Water, briefed the Commission on Plan Bay Area 2040 and its potential implications for urban water management. Ritchie explained that Plan Bay Area is a regional land‑use and transportation plan prepared by ABAG and MTC and that SFPUC uses local planning projections for its urban water management plan. He reviewed historical in‑city retail demand figures cited in prior urban water management plans and said that when combining city projections with groundwater and recycled‑water projects, the SFPUC's planning numbers approach roughly 85 million gallons per day.
Ritchie told the Commission that the Plan Bay Area draft EIR identifies the possibility of insufficient water supplies under certain growth scenarios and lists programmatic mitigation measures (conservation, reclaimed water, projects and water budgets) while acknowledging the analysis is high level. SFPUC staff will provide comments to the Planning Department and may submit additional water‑specific comments directly if necessary; commissioners asked staff to provide regular updates on the plan and the agency's water‑supply assessments ahead of the next 2020 Urban Water Management Plan.
On a separate but related item, Ritchie reported a proposed interjurisdictional agreement in which Mountain View would make available 1,000,000 gallons per day of individual supply guarantee to East Palo Alto in exchange for a $5,000,000 one‑time payment. Mountain View was scheduled to consider initial approval the same evening; if it approves, East Palo Alto would consider the matter June 20 and then seek SFPUC administrative approval under the Water Supply Agreement. Ritchie described the transfer as a permanent reassignment permitted by the WSA and noted the arrangement is precedent‑setting.
Public commenters and commissioners raised concerns about the scale of regional growth projections and urged SFPUC to take a leadership role in highlighting water‑supply limits and the need for coordinated mitigation. Environmental speakers emphasized biodiversity and demand‑side constraints; Bosco representatives highlighted that some corridor projections appeared disproportionately high and called for careful review.
Next steps: SFPUC staff will submit comments to the Planning Department on the draft EIR, provide commissioners with regular updates on Plan Bay Area and water-supply implications, and follow the Mountain View/East Palo Alto transfer through the local approval processes.
