San Francisco Public Utilities Commission - Water System Improvement Program

$4.4 Billion Water System Improvement Program

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the third largest municipal utility in California, stretching 167 miles from the Sierras to the City, serves 2.4 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the Bay Area. SFPUC manages a complex water supply system featuring a series of reservoirs, tunnels, pipelines, and treatment systems. Approximately one-third of delivered water goes to retail customers in San Francisco; two-thirds comprise wholesale deliveries to 28 suburban agencies in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties. In 2001, SFPUC and its wholesale customers launched a $4.4 billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) to improve the system’s reliability by repairing, replacing, and seismically upgrading the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water Delivery System’s aging pipelines, tunnels, reservoirs, and dams.

In May 2005, SFPUC selected Parsons to provide program, project, and preconstruction management services on the WSIP. Specifically, Parsons will provide advice and supplemental staff to SFPUC to manage and implement this program, which will meet key goals and service levels for water supply, seismic recovery, water quality, drought reliability, and sustainability through more than 75 San Francisco and regional projects scheduled for completion by the end of 2014.

Parsons’ first task was to assess the program scope, schedule, and budget against the adopted service level goals that defined the program for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Report. During these initial stages, Parsons worked closely with SFPUC staff to review and revise the program’s baseline. Parsons is also assisting SFPUC in developing alternative contracting methods to support this fast-track program’s aggressive multiyear schedule. Our value engineering study of the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant (SVWTP) project resulted in an immediate $250,000 cost reduction and created opportunities for even greater long-term savings. Our program assessment identified a scope change for the San Joaquin pipeline system that reduced that project’s cost by $500 million, allowing other project budgets to be revised and additional projects to be added to the program without increasing the overall cost.

Under the WSIP, the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water Delivery System is divided into two major improvement programs. Parsons is providing support for all 39 regional system projects, which are designed to increase the reliability of transmission and treatment facilities that bring water from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the San Francisco Bay area. Parsons is providing support for most of the local system’s 38 projects, which focus on facilities in San Francisco to enhance reliable water deliveries, update outmoded equipment, and rehabilitate aging infrastructure to withstand seismic events.

Major projects under the WSIP’s Hetch Hetchy improvement program include:

Bay Division Pipeline Reliability (estimated cost: $580 million):
The Bay Division Pipelines (BDPLs) (four pipelines that were built in 1925, 1936, 1952, and 1973) transport water from the Irvington Tunnel Portal to users in the East Bay, South Bay, and Peninsula systems, as well as replenish the Crystal Springs and San Andreas Reservoirs. Parsons is providing project management support and review of the technical design and constructability for this project, which will provide for a fifth 21-mile-long pipeline from Irvington Tunnel Portal in Fremont to Pulgas Tunnel Portal near Redwood City, including a tunnel under San Francisco Bay and adjacent marshlands.

San Joaquin Pipeline System Changes (estimated cost: $350 million):
The San Joaquin Pipeline system is the SFPUC’s water transmission facility that spans nearly 48 miles to link the Foothill Tunnel at Oakdale Portal to the Coast Range Tunnel at Tesla Portal. Its three existing large-diameter pipelines were built in 1932, 1953, and 1968 for a total design flow of 300 mgd. Their actual capacity at present is approximately 292 mgd with all lines in service. When one of the pipelines is shut down for maintenance, at least half its length must be removed from service, greatly reducing the system’s hydraulic capacity. Parsons is providing project management support and performing planning phase studies and review of the technical design and constructability for this project that will upgrade the system to ensure a capacity of at least 313 mgd when all pipelines are in operation and will add valving and crossovers to increase system capacity during maintenance.

Calaveras Dam Replacement (estimated cost: $268 million):
Calaveras Reservoir, located on the Alameda and Santa Clara County boundary, is the largest Bay Area reservoir in the SFPUC’s regional water system. Because the dam is located near a seismically active fault zone and was determined to be seismically vulnerable, since 2001, the California Department of Water Resources, Division of Safety of Dams, has limited the amount of water that can be stored in the reservoir to roughly 40% of its former full storage capacity until the seismic deficiencies are corrected. Parsons will review the technical design and constructability and value engineering studies.

Irvington Tunnel Upgrades (estimated cost: $214 million):
The Irvington Tunnel carries water from two of the three SFPUC sources: Hetch Hetchy and SVWTP. Parsons is providing specialized tunnel expertise to support project management and is reviewing the technical design and constructability for these upgrades, which include the following components:

• Approximately 18,200 feet of tunnel with a 10-foot finished inside diameter aligned parallel to, and just south of, the existing tunnel.
• New portals at the east and west end with connections for the existing and proposed Alameda Siphons on the east and the existing and proposed BDPLs on the west.

Recycled Water Projects (estimated cost: $200 million):
Parsons prepared the Alternative Analysis Report as part of the project planning phase and the reviews of the technical design and constructability for the Recycled Water Projects, which include two specific projects (Phases A and B) within the city and county of San Francisco. The Westside Baseline Project (Phase A) will create a backbone infrastructure to allow for the expansion of the recycled water service territories on the western side of the city. The Harding Park/Lake Merced Project (Phase B) is an expansion project connected to the Westside Baseline Project. These two projects address different levels of treatment, distribution, and end users.

Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant Long-term Improvements (estimated cost: $167 million):
Parsons is developing the Alternatives Analysis Report as part of the project planning phase on this project that will provide long-term improvements to the Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant—a critical component of the SFPUC water system—enabling it to operate at full capacity. Specific improvements include ozone generation, sedimentation, sludge thickening and dewatering, effluent pipeline, raw water pumping system, and electrical and instrumentation upgrades.

Through our ongoing program, project, and preconstruction management services, Parsons continues to work with SFPUC to streamline procedures and implement cost-saving measures on this fast-track program.