Calaveras Dam Team participates in the US Society on Dams Conference

Some of our Sunol Valley Project team members are visiting Colorado this week. And they are not visiting to see the snow, but taking part in the United States Society on Dams (USSD) 2016 Annual Conference representing the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.

As you know, the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project is the largest project of the $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) to repair, replace, and seismically upgrade key components of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System. 

Our WSIP Director Dan Wade and Calaveras Dam Project Manager Susan Hou were joined by the members of our SFPUC Engineering Management Bureau at the conference to present on the construction and challenges with the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.

The completion of the project is important to the water supply for the Bay Area. Calaveras Reservoir, when full, represents nearly half of all the water storage in the Bay Area for the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System that serves 2.6 million customers. Calaveras Reservoir is a crucial source of water supply during times of drought and when Hetch Hetchy Reservoir supplies are unavailable for any reason. 

Our project construction continues and we have moved over 7 million cubic yards of earth and rock materials to make room for the new dam. We plan to start constructing the replacement dam later this year. The project is over 70% complete.

From L to R: SFPUC Engineering Staff Carman Ng, Tedman Lee, Alisha Reinhardt, USSD President John Wolfhope, Former USSD Executive Director Larry Stephens, SFPUC WSIP Director Dan Wade and Calaveras Dam Project Manager Susan Hou