Retail Drought Response
Framework Overview
September 27, 2022
1 Framework Picks Up from the 2020 WSCP
• SFPUC developed a Water Shortage Contingency
Plan (WSCP) as part of the 2020 Urban Water
Management Plan process
• WSCP outlines a step-wise retail demand reduction
approach:
1. Voluntary reductions, with increasing levels of urgency in messaging
2. Voluntary reductions for all sectors, plus mandatory irrigation reductions
3. Mandatory residential reductions
4. Mandatory commercial + municipal reductions
2 Approach for Mandatory Retail Reductions
• Allocate the retail demand reduction among customer sectors • Irrigation – First sector to be reduced, most drastic reductions. • Residential – Next sector to be reduced.
• Non-residential – Last sector to be reduced to minimize economic impacts.
Includes commercial, industrial, and institutional (municipal) customers. Cycle back to Irrigation sector to increase reductions, if needed. • Allocate the demand reductions within customer sectors 3 Irrigation Allocations
• Mandatory reductions will be applied to Irrigation sector first • Allocation method: Percent reduction from base year
• Example: Reduce 20% from last year’s usage
• Why this method was selected:
• Applicable to seasonal outdoor use
• Used successfully during previous drought
4 Residential Allocations
• Should more retail reductions be needed, mandatory reductions will be applied to the Residential sector
• Allocation method: Per capita
• Example: 40 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) for each person in household • Why this method was selected:
• Equitably allocates water to each person
• Number of potential appeals scales with shortage severity (starts low) • Removes necessity of determining a per capita floor during most drought scenarios
5 Non-residential Allocations
• Should more retail reductions be needed, mandatory reductions will be applied to the Non-residential sector
• Includes commercial, industrial, and institutional (municipal) customers • Allocation method: Percent reduction from base year
• Example: Reduce 10% from last year’s usage
• Why this method was selected:
• Applicable to different business types
• Can apply different percentages based on essential service (e.g., health and safety)
6 Implementation of the Framework
• Framework is informing ongoing efforts to:
• Design an efficient allocation adjustment program
• Identify upfront exemptions
• Develop functionality in billing system
• Staff will request Commission approval before enacting specific voluntary or mandatory reductions tied to future water shortages 7