HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 7545City of Palo Alto
COLLEAGUES MEMO
December 05, 2016 Page 1 of 3
(ID # 7545)
DATE: December 5, 2016
TO: City Council Members
FROM: Council Member Filseth, Council Member Holman, Council Member
Burt, Council Member DuBois
SUBJECT: Colleagues Memo Regarding East Palo Alto Water Shortage
As has been reported recently in the news, our neighboring city of East Palo Alto is
facing an impending water shortage. East Palo Alto currently uses its entire water
supply allocation from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), and
in June its City Council was forced to impose a moratorium on new development,
putting on hold affordable housing projects and commercial development. East Palo
Alto is currently pursuing new groundwater pumping initiatives to address its need,
a proposition that would impact the aquifer that it shares with Palo Alto.
Given that East Palo Alto has the lowest residential per capita water use in the
region, the current situation is inadequate to meet its needs. In addition, the
economic wellbeing of East Palo Alto is important to Palo Alto, and its ability to
provide affordable and obtainable housing helps support its surrounding
communities.
Officials of East Palo Alto have expressed a strong interest in exploring with Palo
Alto and Mountain View whether some fraction of our cities’ water allocations, or
Individual Supply Guarantees, could be permanently transferred to East Palo Alto.
We would look to East Palo Alto to collaborate with its neighboring cities to manage
any impacts from future development made possible by a transfer.
Recommendation
We request that the Council either direct staff to schedule a Council study session on this
topic, or refer it to the Policy and Services Committee, to discuss how the City of Palo Alto
may help support East Palo Alto through a transfer or sale of a small portion of our
Individual Supply Guarantee.
December 05, 2016 Page 2 of 3
(ID # 7545)
Background
The SFPUC supplies water to San Francisco and 26 wholesale customers in San Mateo,
Santa Clara and Alameda Counties (Palo Alto and East Palo Alto are two of those
customers). 2.6 million people and thousands of businesses depend on the Hetch Hetchy
Regional Water System to deliver water to the Bay Area from the Tuolumne River in
Yosemite National Park. Since 2003, the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency
(BAWSCA) has represented the wholesale customers in negotiations with the SFPUC.
Roughly one-third of the water distributed by the SFPUC is used in San Francisco, and the
remaining two-thirds by BAWSCA member agencies.
History of Individual Supply Guarantees (ISGs)
Individual Supply Guarantees (permanent water supply allocations) for the wholesale
customers were first established in 1984. The SFPUC allocated a perpetual supply
assurance of 184 million gallons of water per day (mgd) to its wholesale customers, and in
1994 the wholesale customers together formally determined how the water would be
allocated among them. In 1984, East Palo Alto had just been incorporated, and large
projects such as University Circle, IKEA, Gateway 101 and other development were not yet
planned. Today, East Palo Alto’s ISG is 1.96 mgd, far lower than its needs and historic
usage.
Current Status of ISGs
In 2008, the SFPUC approved its Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) to upgrade
the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System to be able to withstand a major earthquake. The
WSIP capped water sales at 265 mgd: 81 mgd for San Francisco and 184 mgd for the
BAWSCA member agencies until at least 2018. The SFPUC’s 2015 Urban Water
Management Plan operated under the assumption that the 265 mgd sales cap would likely
remain in place after 2018.
Last year BAWSCA member agencies purchased about 126 mgd from the SFPUC, well
below the 184 cap. SFPUC projects that East Palo Alto will need about 3.5 mgd by 2040.
Palo Alto is projected to use 11.9 mgd in 2020, with use slightly decreasing thereafter as
water conservation programs continue. (See attached graph from the SFPUC.) These
programs have proven significant, as over the past 20 years Palo Alto has reduced its usage
by 40%, to approximately 10 mgd, through water efficiency programs, conservation and
reductions in our manufacturing sector. These reductions occurred concurrently with
increases in the City’s population and employment over that same period.
Page 3 of 3 December 05, 2016 (ID # 7545)
ISG transfers are permitted under the 2009 Water Supply Agreement (WSA) between the
SFPUC and its wholesale customers, but must be permanent, at least 100,000 gallons per
day, and approved by the SFPUC.1
Drought Allocations
In the case of water shortages, the SFPUC can reduce water sales to both San Francisco and
the wholesale customers under the Tier I Water Shortage Allocation Plan, distributing
water based on the level of shortage. The Tier II Drought Implementation Plan, adopted by
the wholesale customers in 2010, allocates the collective wholesale customer share among
each of the 26 wholesale customers, based on a combination of ISGs and seasonal water
use, with an adjustment for East Palo Alto to ensure it can meet its basic health and safety
needs during a drought. The Tier II Plan will expire in 2018 unless extended by the
wholesale customers.
Under the Tier II Plan, a transfer of .5 mgd to East Palo Alto could require Palo Alto to
reduce its water use by an additional 1% in times of drought, and a 1 mgd transfer could
require an additional 2% reduction in water use. These conservation levels assume that
the Tier II Plan would remain intact after 2018, the likelihood of which is not yet known.
However, State water conservation mandates are independent of both the SFPUC’s Tier I
Water Shortage Implementation Plan and the wholesale customers’ Tier II Drought
Allocation Plan. The 2015/16 State mandate required communities statewide to reduce
their water use by 8% - 36%, depending largely on total per capita use. Because of its very
low per capita use, East Palo Alto’s reduction mandate was 8% while Palo Alto’s was 24%.
Palo Alto was able to well exceed its mandated reduction.
It is possible that State water conservation mandates will continue to be the primary
drought reduction driver, rather than implementation of the SFPUC and wholesale
customer’s Plans, given that the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System includes significant
storage in proportion to its annual needs. Even after five years of drought and one normal
water year, the SFPUC’s reservoirs are currently at close to 80% of capacity, among the
highest in the state.
1 Transfers are described in Section 3.04 of the WSA, available at
http://www.sfwater.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8632