AgdaPkt 2015-06-08 Joint SA and PFA

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ATTY/ORD.410/FIRE SPRINKLER REV: 06-02-15 PT Page 3 of 9 protection. Many of these buildings are located in areas particularly affected by the City’s local climatic, geological, and topographical conditions. These conditions individually and cumulatively create circumstances which may lead to fires that are challenging to control and to prevent from spreading to adjacent properties. If these buildings had Automatic Sprinkler Systems, the risk of property damage and injury to occupants, responders, and the community would be significantly lessened. 4. Fighting fires with Automatic Sprinkler Systems takes less water than fighting fires in other ways and saving water in California is a critical and important goal. a. The State of California suffers from periodic droughts. On January 17, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown proclaimed a State of Emergency due to the severity and length of the current drought and directed that the appropriate State agencies take action to conserve water such that, “everyone – farmers, fish, and people in our cities and towns – will get less water.” (http://ca.gov/Drought/archive- january-2014.html) The Governor called on Californians to reduce their water usage by 20 percent and subsequently, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) requested its wholesalers (including the City of Redwood City) to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 10 percent. (See August 25, 2014 Redwood City Staff Report, “Emergency Drought Regulations for Statewide Urban Water Conservation.”) The City Council promptly adopted a resolution implementing various water use restrictions. b. In 2015, California entered its fourth year of drought and the State Water Resources Control Board expanded emergency regulations to safeguard the State’s remaining water supplies while continuing to give urban water suppliers flexibility to take actions that reflect their local conditions. According to the State’s website: “The State Water Board strongly encourages water suppliers to do much more than the minimum required by the regulation.” (http://ca.gov/Drought/archive-march-2015.html) c. On April 1, 2015, Governor Brown issued an Executive Order (http://gov.ca.gov/docs/4.1.15_Executive_Order.pdf) requiring State agencies to, among other things, implement and enforce further restrictions designed to reduce water usage by 25% by February 28, 2016. d. Redwood City adopted an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) in 2010 to support the community’s long-term resource planning and to ensure that adequate water supplies are available to meet existing and future water demands. (www.redwoodcity.org/publicworks/water/UWMP_index.html) Redwood City relies completely on water supplied and managed by the SFPUC through the Hetch Hetchy water system, which provides water to about 800,000 San Francisco City residents plus 1.6 million Bay Area residents, including Redwood City residents, through contractual agreements. To meet anticipated demand, the 7.4.A. - Page 5