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<br />Be <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />Water Supply Assurance - In its City Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) the City <br />has previously determined that the City has a relatively low level of water supply <br />reliability. The City currently purchases all of its potable water supplies from the San <br />Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) via the Hetch Hetchy regional water <br />system and its demand for water has consistently exceeded its assured supply of water <br />from the SFPUC, with demand exceeding assured supplies in five of the last six years, <br />ranging from 99.5% of assured supplies in the single year during this period that <br />assured supplies exceeded demand, to high demand of approximately 112% assured <br />supplies. There are no adverse consequences to excess demand as long as Hetch <br />Hetchy system supplies are sufficient for all SFPUC customers; however, in the event of <br />a system-wide water shortage, water costs will increase significantly. Pursuant to the <br />various agreements it has with the SFPUC, if the SFPUC declares a 20% water system <br />shortage, the City will be required to reduce water use by 30%. This reduction would be <br />accomplished through economic means by increasingly higher water use penalties that <br />would be imposed on the City by the SFPUC as the City's water use exceeded its water <br />allotment. It is expected that these penalties would be passed on to consumers in order <br />to induce them to curb their water use. Moreover, in its UWMP the City has determined <br />that the City's water reliability will deteriorate in future years. Total water demands on <br />the Hetch Hetchy water system are expected to grow and water shortages are expected <br />to increase in both frequency and magnitude. Additionally, the City's wholesale cost of <br />water is expected to increase by approximately 300% over the next 10 years as the <br />SFPUC passes future capital costs to upgrade the existing Hetch Hetchy system on to <br />regional water purchasers. <br /> <br />Confronted with a relatively low level of water supply reliability and projected increasing <br />wholesale water costs, the City initiated planning efforts to meet its goals of providing its <br />water customers with high quality water, at a high degree of reliability, at the lowest <br />possible cost. In 2002 the City began implementing water conservation measures and <br />began investigating the feasibility of implementing a water recycling project for <br />landscape irrigation and industrial uses in order to reduce the City's dependence on <br />SFPUC water. <br /> <br />The City Council authorized staff to proceed with the water recycling project in August <br />2003, approved the project plan of finance in January 2005, and sold bonds to fund the <br />first phase of project construction in 2005 and 2006. <br /> <br />Water Recycling Project - Phase 1 of the project consists of the construction of water <br />recycling equipment to be installed at the South Bayside System Authority (SBSA) <br />treatment plant, a pipeline and pumping distribution system to be installed east of US <br />101 in Redwood Shores and in the Seaport, Sayfront and Skyway commercial and <br />industrial areas of the City, customer site retro-fits, and the installation of synthetic turf <br />to reduce the use of water for irrigation purposes. This portion of the project will be <br />implemented through 2010, and will be capable of delivering up to 2,000 acre-feet of <br />recycled water per year. Total Phase 1 estimated costs are approximately $72.4 <br />million. Phase 2 of the project, totaling an estimated $12.8 million, will extend the <br />distribution system west of US 101 if demand warrants. The project will be designed to <br /> <br />2 <br />