Urban Watershed Planning

About the Urban Watershed Assessment

Project Factsheet

Click for Spanish & Chinese

The Urban Watershed Assessment is the watershed-based planning process the SFPUC is using to help plan the City’s Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP), a 20-year, multi-billion dollar project to improve the collections portion of our combined sewer system. 

San Francisco has eight distinct urban watersheds, five on the Bayside (North Shore, Channel, Islais, Sunnyvale, and Yosemite) three on the Westside (Richmond, Sunset, and Lake Merced). This assessment promotes progressive solutions considering unique characteristics of each of the City’s urban watersheds, such as soil type, underlying geology, age of infrastructure and urban development patterns.

UWA recommendations will include a blend of innovative green (rain gardens, permeable pavement, bioswales) and traditional grey (tunnels, pump stations, upstream conveyance pipes) infrastructure projects, incentive programs and policies to meet our sewer system challenges. The recommendations will shape the next generation of sewer improvements to provide a compliant, reliable, resilient, and flexible system that can respond to catastrophic events, manage stormwater and flooding, adapt to climate change, and provide community benefits and environmental sustainability.

		System Challenges
Aging Infrastructure Over 80% of San Francisco sewer pipes are over 100 years old and the system gets overwhelmed during heavy rains.		Seismic Vulnerability Our sewer system was not built to withstand a major earthquake and facilities are seismically vulnerable.		Climate Change The increasing intensity and frequency of storms can overwhelm our system and contribute to flooding.

Odor Control Odors can be a problem when aging equipment malfunctions and during dry weather.		Water Quality Continue to reduce combined sewer discharges to help improve water quality in the Bay and Ocean.		Localized Flooding Stormwater runoff can overwhelm our system during heavy rains and lead to neighborhood flooding.

Urban Watershed Assessment Process

The Urban Watershed team has completed numerous techincal studies and has engaged San Francisco through a variety of outreach efforts since 2011. Check out the reports and recordings below for Bayside and Westside planning activities. More information on the history of watershed planning in San Francisco is available on our History of SF Urban Watershed Planning page.

Bayside Urban Watersheds Documents

Below are reports and webinars from the Characterization and Opportunities Phases of work for the North Shore, Channel, Islais Creek, Yosemite, and Sunnydale Watersheds.

Technical Reports

• Bayside Opportunities Technical Memorandum, July 2014 - This document identifies opportunity locations and specific strategies for collection system improvements in the Bayside Watersheds.
• Bayside Characterization Technical Memorandum, July 2013 - This documents summarizes the existing conditions of the Bayside Watersheds and provides a data resource for the subsequent steps of the SSIP Urban Watershed Assessment (UWA). 

Public Meetings and Materials

• Bayside Update Webinar, January 29, 2015 (46 min) - Presentation fo the projects and programs recommended to improve the sewer and stormwater infrastructure in San Francisco's Bayside Watersheds.
• Bayside Watersheds Opportunites Webinar, May 21, 2014 (39 min) - Presentation on the existing watershed conditions and sewer and stormwater system challenges of the Bayside Watersheds.
• Southeast Watersheds Planning Game Workshop Summary Report, November 16, 2013 – This Summary Report highlights key community input and provides a snapshot of the project ideas generated during the workshop for the Islais Creek, Yosemite and Sunnydale Watersheds.
• Channel and North Shore Watersheds Planning Game Workshop Summary Report, June 1, 2013 - This Summary Report highlights key community input and provides a snapshot of the project ideas generated during the planning game workshop.

Westside Watersheds Documents

Below are reports and webinars from the Characterization and Opportunites Phases of work for the Richmind, Sunset, and Lake Merced Watersheds.

Technical Reports

• Westside Opportunities Technical Memorandum, February 2015 – This document identifies opportunity locations and specific strategies for collection system improvements in the Westside Watersheds.
• Westside Characterization Technical Memorandum, August 2014- This document summarizes the existing conditions of the Westside Watersheds and provides a resource for the subsequent steps of the SSIP Urban Watershed Assessment (UWA).

Public Meetings and Materials

• Westside Watersheds Planning Game Workshop Summary Report, November 16, 2013 – This Summary Report highlights key community input and provides a snapshot of the project ideas generated during the workshop and online/ipad surveys.
• Westside Characterization Webinar, August 6, 2014 – Presentation on the existing watershed conditions and sewer and stormwater system challenges of the Richmond, Sunset and Lake Merced Watersheds on the Westside of San Francisco. 

Get Involved

Check out the SFPUC calendar for upcoming Green Infrastructure and other SSIP events coming to your neighborhood!

Stay informed by subscribing to our e-newsletter to learn about upcoming sewer and urban watershed events and projects. Sign up here: sfwater.org/signup.