San Francisco Garter Snake

The primary purpose of the Watershed and Environmental Improvement Program is to protect and restore lands within the hydrologic boundaries that contribute to our source waters in the Alameda Creek, Peninsula, and Tuolumne River watersheds. Watershed protection will be accomplished through acquisition of conservation easements, fee title, and/or private-public partnerships on these lands to ensure the delivery of high quality water to Bay Area communities and the preservation of significant ecological resources within our source watersheds. Improving ecosystem function and habitat quality will also be accomplished under this program. Restoration projects will be planned and implemented to address issues such as fish passage, riparian habitat degradation, and sensitive species recovery. All improvement projects funded from this program must meet the requirements of the Charter, prudent utility practice, and the funding source.

The SFPUC owns nearly 63,000 acres of watershed lands in the Bay Area. Approximately 23,000 acres are situated in the headwaters of the San Mateo Creek and Pilarcitos Creek watersheds located on the San Francisco Peninsula in San Mateo County. This represents and Santa Clara Counties, however, ownership is limited to about 40,000 acres of land situated below the headwaters of the southern Alameda Creek watershed. This land represents approximately one-third of the watershed, with nearly 90,000 acres of contributing watershed land beyond the control of the SFPUC.

Steelhead Trout

The San Francisco District Office, Drinking Water Field Operations Branch of the California Department of Health Services, supports acquisition of critical watershed lands by the SFPUC. The Department of Health Services has stated in correspondence with the SFPUC that the ".. . level of watershed protection provided is the single most important factor in our determination of the type and level of treatment required for surface water supplies." Controlling land use and access and watershed lands is an effective measure to minimize potential contaminants in water supply and source water. The increasing urbanization of the Bay Area could adversely impact watershed lands that are not under the management of the SFPUC, particularly in the Alameda Creek watershed where the SFPUC owns less than 30% of the land within the hydrologic boundary.

The Watershed and Environmental Improvement Program will include the comprehensive identification of critical watershed lands and ecosystem restoration needs within the hydrologic boundaries, which contribute to our source waters in the Alameda Creek, Peninsula, and Tuolumne River watersheds and prioritize and initiate the protection and/or restoration of these lands. The WSIP will provide resources to protect and restore critical watershed lands concurrent with other projects to meet WSIP water quality and stewardship objectives within the program schedule.