San Francisco's Wastewater Treatment Program Needs Reexamination and Better Management

Gao ID: MASAD-83-11 February 1, 1983

GAO reviewed the effectiveness of construction planning and management of San Francisco's Wastewater Treatment Program which is intended to reduce pollution of the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean.

GAO found that reduced federal funding and uncertain state and city funding raise serious questions over the completion of the program in the foreseeable future. The city may not be able to afford such a costly undertaking if funds from other sources are not forthcoming. The outcome will not only result in construction delays, but also in the inability to fully achieve established water quality goals. GAO questioned whether an additional $2 billion should be spent to attain uncertain additional water quality benefits after the core systems are complete. The project design and change order reviews have been limited because of reduced resources.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Donald E. Day Team: General Accounting Office: Mission Analysis and Systems Acquisition Division Phone: (202) 275-8408


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