01
About the Utility
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is an enterprise department providing water, wastewater and power services. It owns and operates the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, which serves 2.7 million residents, supplying San Francisco directly and selling wholesale through 27 cities and public water agencies in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties; wholesale customers take roughly two-thirds of deliveries. The SFPUC receives no tax revenues and relies on utility rates, governed by a Charter-mandated ten-year financial plan updated each year. Alongside water and wastewater it runs Hetch Hetchy Power and CleanPowerSF, and its water and wastewater enterprises are each rated Aa2 by Moody’s.
02
Water System
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in the Sierra Nevada provides up to 85 percent of the water delivered each year, supplemented by local reservoirs in Alameda and San Mateo counties and a deep groundwater aquifer. In FY2025 the Water Enterprise sold about 182 million gallons a day. Demand per person is low: San Francisco residents used 42 gallons per person per day. Water met all federal and state drinking water standards in 2025. Age is the binding constraint: the Hetch Hetchy system averages about 135% of its anticipated useful life, and in-city main renewal reached 9.1 miles against a 15-mile target.
Water production
SFPUC Water Enterprise water production, million gallons, FY2016–FY2025 (fiscal years ending 30 June)
Reported actuals from one ten-year row of the FY2025 statistical section.
Sources: SFPUC Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2025, Statistical Section.03
Wastewater System
The SFPUC also runs San Francisco’s combined sewer system, which carries both sanitary sewage and stormwater, is more than a century old and is described as the only such system in coastal California. Its 1,139 miles of collection pipes fed treatment plants averaging 73.5 million gallons a day in FY2025, and dry-weather main sewer overflows stayed within target. Renewal is lagging, with 6.5 miles of wastewater pipes renewed against a 13.8-mile target, while the ageing Southeast Treatment Plant is being rebuilt with new biosolids digesters due by Summer 2028.
04
Investment & Priorities
The ten-year capital plan adopted in February 2024 totals $11.8 billion, $3 billion more than its predecessor, driven by climate-related and regulatory projects. Wastewater takes the largest share at 51%, led by the Sewer System Improvement Program’s treatment-plant upgrades, and the plan is 78% debt funded. On the water side, the $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program, which seismically upgrades the regional system, has had its schedule extended to February 2027.
05
Sustainability & Resilience
The Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project, the first major adaptation project in San Francisco, will build a buried seawall to protect a wastewater treatment plant, pump station and recycled water facility from erosion driven by sea-level rise, with construction expected from late 2027. Purified water schemes are planned to diversify supply. Affordability is a formal policy: the typical bill measure was 1.70% against a target below 3.00%, but the financial plan forecasts that, absent changes, combined bills will slightly exceed affordability targets.
06
Key Challenges
- Renewing water mains and sewers at the pace their targets require.
- Delivering the Sewer System Improvement Program and Southeast Treatment Plant rebuild within a wastewater-led capital plan.
- Maintaining the reliability of the ageing Hetch Hetchy supply system.
- Protecting coastal wastewater assets at Ocean Beach from erosion driven by sea-level rise.
- Containing bill growth as wastewater rates are forecast to rise 9.7% a year on average.