San francisco Public Utilities commission. Todays date is april 14, 2020. Madam secretary, roll call, please. [roll call] clerk madam president , we have a quorum. Thank you. Before we begin today, i would like to make an announcement. Due to the covid19 Health Emergency and given the recommendations issued by the San Francisco department of Public Health and that Governor Newsom and mayor breed have lifted the restriction on teleconference. This meeting is being held with the members and staff participating today via teleconference. This will ensure the safety of the commission, sfpuc staff, and members of the public. While this Technology Allows us to hold this meeting via teleconference, there may be some gaps as staff is moving between speakers. Thank you for your understanding, and we ask for your patience. So to say, this is our maiden voyage. We ask the public to participate remotely by writing the commission or leaving a voice message. Going forward, we will continue to urge the public to write to the commission at commission thats a capital c at sfwater. Org. Again, thats commission sfwater. Org. By a leaving a message at 4155543165. Again, thats 4155543165 in advance of the meetings. If they havent already done so, im asking the members of the commission to mute themselves to minimize background noise. Commission members will have to remember to unmute themselves to speak. Lastly, on behalf of the commission, i want to thank you who have been working long hours to make this meeting possible starting with donna hood, our Commission Secretary, lee sales, and Javier Torres at the p. U. C. Department and the entire sfgovtv staff. Madam secretary, please continue. Clerk thank you, madam president. At this time, id like to make a statement regarding Public Comment. This meeting is being televised by sfgtv. For those of you watching the live steam, please be aware that there is a 20to30second lag between what you are watching and what is happening at sfgtv. If you wish to comment on an item, please call the phone line when the item is called. For members of the public who make Public Comment on agenda items, dial 8882733658. Again. Thats 8882733658, and access code 3107452. Absays code 3107452, and i believe thats also scrolling on the bottom of the sfgtv feed, and then followed by pound and then pound again to join the meeting as a participant. Then dial one and zero to be added to the speaker line. This is the Public Comment period. You will be queued up in the order your call was received. You will hear an auto mated voice when it is your turn to speak. When your mit is your turn, yo will be unmuted, and your speaking time will begin. Make sure you are in a quiet location, that you turnoff any t. V. S or radios, and if you are Live Streaming the meeting via sfgtv, mute your sound to eliminate any reverberation. I will repeat these instructions during Public Comment periods as i am aware that some members of the public may join the meeting late and may not have heard this information. Thank you very much. And madam president , your first order of business is item 3, approval of the minutes of march 10, 2020. Commissioners, before you, you have the minutes of march 10, 2020. Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes . Hearing none, is there any comment by public on this . Mr. Moderator, please open Public Comment. If you wish to comment on this item, please dial 8882733658, access 3104752, and we will give allow for about 30, 45 seconds for the phone lines to be opened. Clerk okay. Do we have any callers, mr. Moderator . Caller madam secretary, there are three callers in the queue. Clerk okay. These are for the yes. Are these regarding the minutes . Go ahead and open Public Comment and if its not the Public Comments, i will have to ask the speakers to please dial in at the appropriate dial. Can you go ahead and add the first speaker . You have three questions remaining. Clerk hello, speaker. Are you calling regarding the minutes . Speaker . Speaker, go ahead. Mr. Moderator . There are two callers remaining in the queue. You have two questions remaining. Clerk hello, caller. If youre calling regarding the minutes, please start speaking. Caller no, im not calling about the minutes. Ill get on later. Thank you. Clerk okay. Thank you. You have one question remaining. Clerk hello, speaker, if youre calling about the minutes . Not call about the minutes, but you reversed a couple of numbers in the access code. It is 3107452. Clerk okay. Thank you. Madam president , there are no other speakers. Okay. The item is closed. Id like to move the item. Second. Madam secretary, could you please call a roll call vote. [roll call] clerk thank you. The item passes. Next item, please. Clerk next item is item number 4, general Public Comment. Members of the public may address the commission on matters that are within the commissions jurisdiction and are not on todays agenda. Again, members of the public who wish to provide general comment, dial 8882733658, access code 3107452. And before we open the phone lines, i did receive one email for Public Comment. Im going to start the timer and read that email right now. It is from mr. Dave warner. He says dear president caen and commissioners, thank you for your service and our commission for your willingness to provide services to the citizens of San Francisco and Holding Meeting including Public Comment. Youll recall that a potential winwin proposal was made by the Tuolomne River trust this year, still fully meeting the requirements of our designed drought model should this year turn out to be the first year of an eightyear drought. As gracious rerequesting by you, mr. Ritchie, through the general manager kelly, i wrote this letter and presented it at the february 25, 2020 meeting, however, it was ambiguous. The first significant paragraph mentioned that the sf puc was in a lawsuit but it did not prohibit sfpuc from releasing any of those flows. The secondsive paragraph mentions the need to get on the need to get other Water Districts the need to let any additional sfpuc pass through but makes no mention if we need to get their agreement. It seems like the water wat other Water Districts should have some wish to support sfpucs decision. The time frame for waiting to get additional water for the fish cannot be measured in decades. Because of its winwin nature, the program deserves better than ambiguous and inconcluesive statements from staff. Dave warner. That concludes his letter. Mr. Moderator, do we have any calls . Caller madam secretary, there are three calls in the queue. Clerk okay. Caller correction, we now have four callers. Ill queue them up now. You have five questions remaining. Clerk go ahead, speaker. Ill start your time when you begin speaking. Thank you very much. This is peter dreickmeyer from the Tuolomne River trust. Its good to communicate with all of you again. I just want to remind you that next week is the 50th anniversary of earth day, quite a milestone, april 15, 1970. In response to that milestone of support, shortly therefore the clean water thereafter the clean water act and environmental species act. Weve seen a lot on this issue, but not on the tuolomne. In 1970, the New Don Pedro Dam was completed. Though only so much water could be captured before it had to spill in the tuolomne. In 1944, there were 144,000 salmon spanning in the river. But new don pedro holds 2 million acre feet, so were getting much worse flows, and the salmon population has crashed. This last year, we just had 2500 salmon spanning. So weve seen sfpuc do some very good things in the past. A little over ten years ago, there was a problem with steel head dying in the summer, and it convinced the Water District in modesto to join it in releasing water in the summer. So we know that cooperation can happen, and we know that the sfpuc can be a leader. I sent you that peter moyle has been a consultant for p. U. C. In the past, and the idea that we can improve fisheries without adding nonflow measures doesnt work. Its really time to face the fact that fish need water. So we have put forward or interim proposal. We very much appreciate commissioners viators request at the end of the meeting. We did hope that it would have come back by now. We understand we live in different times, so we need to be flexible, but we would like to see that come forward. I thank you for your time serving, and appreciate the comments. Clerk thank you, peter. Next speaker, please. You have five questions remaining. Clerk hello, speaker. When you start, i will start the timer. Hi. My name is jessie raider. I grew up in california, and i now live in San Francisco. I called to echo peters comments. I wont repeat them, because he stated them well, as well as the letter you read. I conserve water for the environment. Thats my main motivation, and im very conscientious about it, and i put a lot of energy into conserving water, as well as many in San Francisco. There have been surveys about that, that conserving water for the environment, knowing that that water is going to benefit the environment is one of the main motivators. The problem is its not happening. The water that we save is, you know, sitting up in a dam in a reservoir, evaporating away. Its not benefiting the fish, and knowing that makes our efforts feel futile. Its so frustrating, knowing that were saving water and its not going to where its needed. I want you to know it makes me less likely to do so, less likely to do so in the future, listen to the advice from our city and state to conserve water for a drought because i i want to know its going to the fish. Now that i know the operation of the river, i know the fish never see a goodyear. Even when we have a good year in california, the fish never see it. They need that, just like we need good years to recover. So i think the item for the sfpuc to release the water is a good one. Its upsetting to San Francisco because i know that residents have these values. The 40 is already a compromise. The scientists said whats needed is 60 . Id like to see San Francisco increasing its values, and i thank you very much for the opportunity to comment, and thats all i have to say. Thanks. You have five questions remaining. Hi, commissioners. My name is susan stansbury. I design water conserving gardens as a profession, and the main motivation of me ayse and my clients is to conserve water. Im calling on behalf of the Tuolomne River trust. As you know, demand is already low. Its already 192 million gallons a day, and clerk thank you, speaker. Your time is up. Im sorry, madam secretary, i believe this is a new speaker. Clerk okay. Im sorry. I got kicked off the meeting for a moment. Go ahead. Im sorry. Okay. So demand is very low, and the tuolomne would benefit from a higher inflow. So im asking for this because i am greatly disturbed by this tragic loss of habitat for the salmon and their reduced numbers. They feed many species and benefit the system, and i have put [inaudible] and i tie this to the magnificent orcas that are dying, and their babies are starving to death because there arent enough salmon to eat. We can have Healthy Rivers and healthy species that rely on the river habitat. As you probably know, our rivers and watersheds are in crisis, and you have the power to restore the rivers and leave a legacy of healthy habitats for us, and i urge you to do so. And i appreciate your time, and thank you for your service. Thank you. Caller madam secretary, well queue the next caller. You have five questions remaining. Thank you. My name is bill martin. Im a San Francisco resident and an sfpuc customer. Im also a member of the sierra club San Francisco water bay. As you may recall, december 2018, the state Water Resources control board ordered a flow recre recre regime requiring unimpaired flows. [inaudible] well over one year ago. During those many months, fish and wildlife, really, the entire ecosystem, could have benefited from higher flows. Instead of making any effort, the sfpuc continues to promulgate start times. Mr. Dreickmeyers models are good to consider. As mr. Warner said earlier today, this is a winwin, but the sfpuc has refused to evaluate mr. Warners work, let alone provide a response. Please consider his work. The environment awaits. Thank you. Caller thank you for your comments. I im going to queue up the next speaker, madam secretary. You have five questions remaining. Good afternoon. Thank you for your service and making this opportunity available. My name is norma wallace. I own a home in San Francisco, im a fourth generation San Francisco, and im also ohlone. I would echo the prior speakers comments regarding the proposal made regarding the Tuolomne River trust and peter dreickmeyer. I want the p. U. C. Staff to address commissioner viators specific request, and im a bit puzzled by the staffs reluctance to move forward. The fish have waited decades. My concern is for the fish. I want to read a brief quote. In june 1860, c. A. Kirkpatrick wrote, salmon fish are fast disappearing from our waters all that in which mining are carried onto any extent. He said in before that, they could literally be picked up as many as desired. We are so far from that situation. Not 200 years have gone by. Please allow the fish a little bit of water. Thank you. Caller thank you, caller, for your comments. Madam secretary, ill queue up the next caller. Clerk thank you. Caller you have four questions remaining. Good afternoon. My name is mary butterwick. Im a botanist, and ive lived in San Francisco for 40 years. Ive supported the Tuolomne River trust interim proposal. Under this proposal, the commission would volley release its 40 flow and do so for at least two years. If we experience a dry year, they could revert back to the base flows and the countys eightyear drought plan. Managing the tuolomne requires both flow and nonflow measures. Nonflow measures in the absence of sufficient flows will not work. The good news is that the flow measures recommended here are doable. In a hetch hetchy area, water decreased 40 between 2000 and 2016. The plan gives the p. U. C. More flexibility to increase level surface flows. Under a scenario where we experience three or more dry areas, the water system on the Tuolomne River would benefit from higher instream flows. Some benefits including providing spring flows high enough to get water onto flood plains, and maintaining downstream water temperatures low enough to support a cold water fishery. San francisco residents such as myself care deeply for the environment. We look to the commission to be responsible stewards for the river by increasing the flows in the Tuolomne River. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Clerk thank you, speaker. Mr. Moderator, do we have more speakers . Caller yes. There are three speakers in the queue. I will queue up the next caller. Clerk clerk thank you. You have three callers remaining. Clerk hi, speaker. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I hope all of your friends and family are healthy and safe during this time. My name is john roads, rhodes, and id like to ask you to take a look at the Tuolomne River true. Im a former fisherman, angler, love rivers, and im concerned about the health of the tuolomne. The whole river concerns not only just flows for humans but for the fish and other animals, organisms, that are part of the river. You as stewards have a responsibility to basically play god on whether fish survive or not, and i hope you are more flexible and look at other situations where you find water for people and also to find water for fish. Again, being 68, ive seen other utilities, other entities, make possible coexisting with fish, and thank you for the opportunity to talk. Caller thank you, caller, for your comments. Madam secretary, i will queue up the next caller. There are two callers remaining. You have two callers remaining. Hello. Good afternoon. My name is libby higgs. I am a resident of modesto, california. I have spent many hours of my life enjoying the Tuolomne River. I fully support the Tuolomne River trust and appreciate their efforts to restore our river to its natural habitat. Ive also participated in some of the nine river cleanups, planted trees, and have enjoyed some of the wonderful activities that the trust has at some ti put on. Today, i respectfully request that the p. U. C. Adopt commissioner viators three requests made in february of this year. I believe that you have very little to lose, and that our precious river has much to gain. Thank you very much for your time. Good afternoon. Clerk thank you. Next speaker, mr. Moderator. Caller this is the last caller in the queue, madam clerk. You have one question remaini remaining. Thank you, speaker. Go ahead and start. Hello . Go ahead . Caller my name is francisco de costa, and i want to speak on three topics. The first one is the sheriffs system improvement project. It started as a 6 billion project, and now, its going to be a 20 billion project. Recently, i received a very detailed report from the sanitary engineers, and the sanitary engineers are now made to work more, and they are totally stressed out. And i think the commissioners have to look into this. Again and again, the sanitary engineers have done a wonderful w