2.
Response
to
Comments
2.9
Individual
Responses
to
Comments
from
Organizations
2.9.14
Tuolumne
River
Trust
Comment
provides
an
introduction
and
describes
the
Tuolumne
River
Trust.
The
comment
does
not
raise
any
substantive
issues
regarding
the
adequacy
of
the
Draft
EIR
or
its
analyses
and
conclusions.
See
for
discussion
of
the
environmental
effects
of
the
proposed
water
supply
agreement.
Water
supply
agencies
throughout
California
are
evaluating
the
potential
effects
of
climate
change
on
their
supply
sources.
The
SFPUC,
the
wholesale
water
supplier
to
the
Bay
Area
peninsula
communities
that
supplies
most
of
Brisbane’s
water,
has
been
a
leader
in
assessing
climate
change
affects.
As
reported
in
the
SFPUC
2010
Urban
Water
Management
Plan
(SFPUC
2011,
Chapter
7
–
Climate
Change,
p
91.),
the
SFPUC
has
conducted
a
detailed
review
of
the
current
scientific
literature
regarding
climate
change
and
potential
effects
on
water
supply
resources
and
identified
several
anticipated
trends
including
reductions
in
average
annual
snowpack,
a
shift
in
snowmelt
runoff
to
earlier
in
the
year,
changes
in
timing,
intensity,
and
variability
of
precipitation,
and
an
increased
amount
of
precipitation
falling
as
rain
instead
of
snow.
The
SFPUC
report
notes
that
while
general
trends
have
been
identified,
“there
is
no
clear
scientific
consensus
on
exactly
how
global
warming
will
quantitatively
affect
the
state’s
water
supplies,
and
current
models
of
State
water
systems
generally
do
not
reflect
the
potential
effects
of
global
warming.”
(SFPUC
2011)
The
SFPUC
conducted
its
own
initial
technical
assessment
of
the
potential
effects
of
climate
change
on
its
Regional
Water
System
and
found
that
through
2025
a
projected
temperature
increase
of
1.5
degrees
Celsius
would
result
in
about
7
percent
of
the
runoff
that
now
drains
into
Hetch
Hetchy
Reservoir
shifting
from
the
spring/summer
season
to
the
fall/winter
season.
The
percentage
change
is
within
the
annual
variation
in
spring/summer
runoff
that
already
occurs
and
is
accounted
for
by
the
SFPUC’s
supply
system
management
and
planning
such
that
it
would
not
adversely
affect
supply
delivery
projections
or
capabilities.
The
SFPUC
is
now
proceeding
in
partnership
with
other
water
utilities
across
the
country
and
research
programs
to
develop
additional
evaluation
methods
to
further
evaluate
potential
climate
change
effects
on
water
supply.
The
only
reasonably
foreseeable
additional
diversion
from
the
Tuolumne
River
by
the
SFPUC
is
the
2
mgd
water
transfer
proposed
and
approved
as
part
of
the
WSIP.
The
SFPUC
has
not
proposed
additional
diversion
increases
at
this
time.
As
part
of
the
SFPUC
approval
of
the
WSIP,
the
Commission
deferred
a
decision
meeting
customer
supply
needs
beyond
2018
and
indicated
that
it
would
address
the
future
water
Brisbane
Baylands
Final
EIR
2.9.14-1
May
2015