when we do treat waste water, it is treated at our treatment plants and discharged from no. 1 plant and southeast, it goes 800 feet out to the bay. on the west side, we discharge four miles offshore to the pacific ocean. the transport box is designed so that it also provides a basic level of treatment, so if the system is overwhelmed, we have permitted discharge. top of a lot about our struggles and challenges, and we wanted to make sure that we stay on course today to really express the priority issues for the sewer system improvement program, and they are numerous. seismic reliability, eating infrastructure, maintaining permit compliance is a big one -- eating infrastructure. we have to make sure all our facilities can run at maximum during a wet weather even. -- e. jane -- aging infrastructure. we're already having issues with climate change. we are seeing salt water entering into our system now. there was some storm surge about five days ago, i guess that was. we had waves breaking over the embarcaderos sea wall. it is going to get more is prone to failure, too. it can be age. it ca

those are the street trees we want people to be planting. we do a lot of tree plantings. all of you must intuitively go, "of course it's good to plant trees," of course, i want to put a rain barrel on my house." but is there a measurable environmental impact? trees are going to take up a lot of stormwater over time and are kind of a long-term green investment. we've had more than 200 volunteers come out planting street trees. we need people to make active changes on their property. and to reduce the amount of flow that's going into the combined sewer lines, we're trying to install 4,000 rain barrels. narrator: homeowners can disconnect roof gutter downspouts from the sewer system and divert the stormwater into a rain barrel. schombert: the rain water then can be used to water lawns and gardens and infiltrate back in the ground slowly, rather than being piped to a creek where it disappears moments after the storm's over. it's being held within the watershed and it helps regenerate ground water and stream flows. hecht: that's what we're going to do this afternoon is think a

this is where the flows into the treatment plants. we have upgrades to mechanical equipment as well as architectural landscaping, but there is an awful lot of work that has to be done. some basic structural and seismic improvements so we can make sure the plan is going to be functional after an earthquake. each of those little dotted lines highlights some of the it improvements included in the $730 million. oceanside improvement projects, about $250 million. there is upgrades to the west side pump station, which is just north of the treatment plants, upgrades to electrical implementation. once again, you see improvements to grit removal. we have tremendous problems with sand coming into the system through the transport problems -- process an hitting the plant ready hardware it can cause some real problems. also, there's a lot of wear on the mechanical equipment. we have to have enhanced ways of removing the sand from the treatment process. seismic upgrades as well. the north point plant is a 6.5- acre facility, and it is really in a r

we made the initial investments in the plants and the pipes. but once we accomplished that, there was this great recognition that we had a series of issues associated with wet weather conditions. storm events where, all of a sudden, you're dealing with a lot of water. narrator: large amounts of rainwater can cause flooding. engineers developed two approaches to stormwater infrastructure to transport water away from the urban environment. one approach was to carry waste and stormwater through the same pipe. this combined system was less expensive than building two individual pipe networks. and stormwater was seen as a way to flush out the sewers. through the 19th century, the combined system was considered state-of-the-art throughout the world, and is still in use in many cities today. but cities constructed these systems before treatment was the standard. and even today's largest treatment plant doesn't have the capacity to treat the sudden volumes of water rushing through a combined system during rain. the plant is overloaded, and the excess r

for the plant as a part of the proposal.have not -- the water treatment plant is a program that was initiated by the puc and is presently being worked through in alternatives. supervisor mirkarimi: just because this is important to the question -- those people that say that they very much support hanc but not at that location, what efforts are being done to demonstrate that support for possible relocation? >> they have exhausted numerous vacation publications. supervisor mirkarimi: what about the hanc recycling center? >> sorry? >> if it does coincide with thinking that maybe the water treatment plant is not of consistent use to golden gate park and that there are actions to be taken as considered alternative uses outside the park, with that now go to a continuity of building hanc on a new location? i have no record of that. >> supervisors, when we began this process of repurchasing for the state, we headpin conversations with almost all city departments about the possibility of city land being available. the department of t

i rely on hanc as a source of affordable and ecologically produced native plants. betsy, i brought a picture but i do not know if it will be very visible. is it possible to put this -- here we go. this is a garden is 500 yards from the nursery. i have tried to circle and highlight all of the plants. those are all produced by hanc. i have specific criticisms on the proposal to put in a community garden. the photograph was shown of sunlight in the area. it was a reference to the amount of light. as someone who has been there frequently, there is not actually that much light available at the site. to make it viable for vegetable gardening a lot of trees would likely need to be cut along the south side, which would be a visual blight on the neighborhood. i also had concerns about the native plant nursery being kept there and who would staff report. it would likely cut out the heart of the native plant nursery as no one would be there on a regular basis. i can see that the centers do go hand in hand in that respect. and [tone] supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much.

we have planted over an acre of native plant gardens adjacent to the recycling center and keysar , and we are helping -- hoping to do more. soil is made from compost on site. monthly workshops along with tours for school groups complement the nursery. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. >> we need more negotiations. [applause] supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker please. come on up. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a 47-year resident of the haight ashbury along with my wife, who will speak next. i have difficulty imagining how i could compress everything i wanted to say within this time, but i discovered that through the various questions of the witnesses, that has been done for me, and i cannot see -- can now see the possibility of an outcome adverse to the recycling center given these. i thank you for your thoroughness, and turning the light not only on the issues, but also an equally serious underlying problem, and that is the lack of transparency in the recreation and park department. thank you very much. [applause] now, what are we going to do with this? supervisor mirkarimi: you c

if you were to plant these same plants in the front yard, you wouldn't need to screen them. we feel like the fencing requirement could be a real impediment to people being able to put this in and a lot of the uses will be temporary. and it feels more restrictive than you want on the construction site. the idea that the enclosure should be optional and the ornamental fencing which is expensive to put in isn't necessary and obviously the fencing would need to meet building code and if you don't want someone to steal your tomatoes, you'll have to have good fencing. and the other is the question of the produce being sold and fairly restrictive language about the stuff that is grown on that site. and considering that this is really we're talking about selling food and a lot of neighborhoods have the food deserts. they don't have places to buy fresh foond and we think being less restrict sieve better than being more restrictive. could you pool produce from several sites? that should be aloud or value add and we use the produce to make jam and put some restrictions on it and a use

the other thing i would say is i mean, planting a tree is about a lot more than planting a tree. it's taking back your neighborhood. putting a mural on a vandalizeded wall is more than art it's about you know, and -- finding stake holders. >> yeah i would say that's my experience to gererro there are many blocks because of all the traffic it'sal a's all tenants. because the sidewalks are so narrow and there is no street scape it's a hostile place to live with few exceptions everyone, regardless of whether they own or not want to see a liveable city and greening. my experience is the tenants are the ones that go to the property owners and say we will take care of it can we have a tree much the property owners the way you get them will say, look it will raise the value of the property you can raise rent. there are various ways to appeal to what it is that will get somebody to sign o. if your tenants say the balance of my lease i promise to water the streets or pick up the dog poop that accumulates in it. one group to bear in mind in all of this conversation is most [inaudible] you

will always be easier than the detection of the small plants. even on these candidates, this is possibly 20% and we can see that this fraction, the rate of the current plans, this goes all the way down to neptune. these numbers are solid. and we can see the small number of planets is growing. this may be a planet desert. the second amazing thing is that it is difficult to untangle the multiple plant system. and we can see that almost one in five of these transiting stars as at least one other plant. and kepler 11 has been absolutely staggering with its results. with these five plants in the system, this will be momentous. this shows a planetary system with several small planets seemed to be common. the third thing, this is reaching out to a different part of the milky way galaxy. i think that this shows us that the neighborhood of the galaxy looks a lot like our own neighborhood. this is important if we're trying to make extrapolations about life. and i can talk about the enthusiasm of the public. we were so excited when we saw this, that we had

the harry tracy plant -- this is an aerial view of the treatment plants. this is north, this is 280, the airport is to the west. san bruno is over here. the plant was built in 1972 and was expanded in 1988 and 1992. major improvements are currently planned to ensure that we maintain the service of our customers. this includes having driven capacity of 140 million gallons a day and having the ability to meet service demands in case of an unplanned emergency, such as an earthquake, or one other key facilities in the systems are shut down. as shown here -- i will not bore you with the details -- we will be doing a lot of improvement on almost all the components of the facility. the key point i want to highlight, the challenge of the project, we need to keep the plant operational while doing construction. the bids for the construction were received in december of last year. the construction is planned to start in april. we expect it to last four years. i am happy to answer any further questions you have. supervisor chu: just a quick question. it sounds like th

but the nineties saw an explosion of rhone plantings in paso. the hospice du rhone showcases rhones from california and all over the world. >> the first 2 wines that you have are a pair of saint josephs. on the right-hand side is pure roussanne, which is very unusual from saint joseph. there are only a few of them being made currently. and by a few, i mean less than five. and then on the left is francois vilar's blend of about 55% marsanne and 45% roussanne. >> during the hospice du rhone event, you can take in a wine tasting and a gourmet meal at one of the town's restaurants. it's a golden opportunity to talk one-on-one with the people who create the wines. >> i thought that the trio that you just had was a spectacular experience. [applause] >> or you can attend a seminar and learn about the rhone varietals grown in paso robles. [indistinct chatter] >> during the festival, hundreds of wines are available at wine tastings. in fact, nearly 600 wines are poured over the 3 days. >> we were told we could get them at a reasonable price. we'll see ho

>> at the tarakhil plant they were out their weekly as we're finishing to plant. i think they been up to the reactive our company probably three or four times in the last six months. i would have to check. >> sigar says they provide quality control. >> i think if you carefully read cigars report, he talked about quality assurance, but the main issue was on an indication. been no allegation that tarakhil power plant had any quality issues but it is a high quality plant. >> i guess i'm puzzled with these folks coming out every week, how come there's no indication? >> i think the communication improved a lot after january 2009. spirit that maybe but i still don't understand how there can be no indication prior to that. can you explain it to me. >> i don't think there was no indication. i think we improved communication. by the time we told the client that we would completed in 2009, in fact we -- >> you mean a year late? >> after we had the issue with the client. we did complete it late, but we did get our from the northern countries, uzbekistan, much earlier than an

of plants, native plants of san francisco. all the soil used in the nursery is made from composting on the site. objective one of the golden gate master plan, in its planned objectives and policies, calls upon the haight ashbury neighborhood council recycling center to increase its benefits to the park by focusing on the recycling needs of golden gate park and the immediate neighborhood. nowhere in that plan does it call for the removal of the hanc recycling center. it is also well known that hanc has developed a trophy native plant nursery, which is the principal supplier of native plants to various parts and open spaces, maintained by the rec and park apartments. the hanc recycling center has been the fiscal agent and interim funder of the garden city environment, which is that seventh and long bid, which is in supervisor elsbernd's district in the initial and said, something we are proud of and have advocated for. at no charge to the city to providing both native plants and carports. what is astonishing and what i think is

it's been through a treatment plant. and now it's in our lake and we're watering with it. narrator: these reuse and conservation techniques enable las vegas to exist in the desert. another important form of conservation is preventing leaks. man: every drop counts. all water systems have what they call an efficiency rating. so if you were to measure the water that goes into your system and compare it to the water that goes out, how much is unaccounted for? most states have a goal of 10%. ours is at only 5.5% right now. and we have plans to lower that to 4%. man: we actually have our entire distribution system mapped out in a computerized or electronic format. and we can locate our pipes, we can locate our valves, we can locate water meters that are out there. we've got small units installed in the distribution system. and they actually listen for leaks. we can schedule the repair, minimize its impacts to the surrounding community, and it minimizes cost, because obviously, if you've got a leak that's been leaking for sometime, you're going to see a lot of undermining of the

i went to the water plant and i went to the wastewater plant and i went to the nuclear plant and i went to the landfill. and if you haven't been to the landfill, you have to go to the landfill because they drive steamrollers there with spikes on them. that's what i want to do now for the rest of my life is drive one of the steamrollers and a mashed up the trash. it's really a place you should go. all these places, if you make the effort, we'll let you been. mostly they will let you been. the nuclear plant they let you in. they have a guy at the door with a machine gun. they do now i'm glad to do but if you do your work, you can probably get in the. a gas company never lets people in. the gas company is deeply concerned about osama bin laden reading my book and learning where -- the funny thing is, not only would they not take me, they would not tell me where it was. i got on google maps. oh, the great big tank that says the name of the gas comfort on the site. so, you know, i'm not sure that security is really the right way -- they are doing it the right way. but we want to be secure. s

plus, the actual cells of the plant get damaged. ultimately the whole plant looks damaged. by watering it, you're giving it a robust cell full of water to protect it. >> reporter: another concern with this chill, as i mentioned before, is the roadways, where the freezing temperatures caused problems with black ice overnight and early this morning. this is a shot of highway 4 where a dangerous stretch of black ice led to a string of accidents and forced the shutdown of one side of the highway for several hours early this morning. again, drivers should be a bit more cautious on the roads, especially here in the south bay as well as parts of the east bay, where there will be another dip in temperatures overnight again with the potential for ice. live in los gatos, kimberly terry, nbc news. >>> a bay area pilot was lucky enough to walk away unharmed from a crash on the peninsula this afternoon. minutes after taking off from the palo alto airport, the pilot reported a loss of power to his cessna. he made an emergency landing just east of the dunbarton bridge. the plane flipped o

>> at the tarakhil plant they were out their weekly as we're finishing to plant. i think they been up to the reactive our company probably three or four times in the last six months. i would have to check. >> sigar says they provide quality control. >> i think if you carefully read cigars report, he talked about quality assurance, but the main issue was on an indication. been no allegation that tarakhil power plant had any quality issues but it is a high quality plant. >> i guess i'm puzzled with these folks coming out every week, how come there's no indication? >> i think the communication improved a lot after january 2009. spirit that maybe but i still don't understand how there can be no indication prior to that. can you explain it to me. >> i don't think there was no indication. i think we improved communication. by the time we told the client that we would completed in 2009, in fact we -- >> you mean a year late? >> after we had the issue with the client. we did complete it late, but we did get our from the northern countries, uzbekistan, much earlier than an

>> at the tarakhil plant they were out their weekly as we're finishing to plant. they been up to the reactive our company probably three or four times in the last six months. i would have to check. >> sigar says they provide quality control. >> i think if you carefully read cigars report, he talked about quality assurance, but the main issue was on an indication. been no allegation that tarakhil power plant had any quality issues but it is a high quality plant. >> i guess i'm puzzled with these folks coming out every week, how come there's no indication? >> i think the communication improved a lot after january 2009. spirit that maybe but i still don't understand how there can be no indication prior to that. can you explain it to me. >> i don't think there was no indication. i think we improved communication. by the time we told the client that we would completed in 2009, in fact we -- >> you mean a year late? >> after we had the issue with the client. we did complete it late, but we did get our from the northern countries, uzbekistan, much earlier than anybody pr

those plants are located approximately 20 feet above mean sea level. the projections for sea level rise in the last itcc report ranged from about 9 to somewhere upward of 25. latest studies are indicating that the upper numbers are perhaps too conservative. so you can see the implications for the viability of those plants if we don't look at substantial modification. and again the science is increasingly telling us that when sea level rises, it doesn't just rise tiny little amounts year by year over a long period of time. it's very likely that it will be much more dramatic changes, as seen at the polar ice caps. we have a number of natural gas burning stations also on the coast. these stations provide upwards of 40 percent of the total electricity supply of the city and they are also at about 20 feet above mean sea level. these power plants can be replaced in terms of the amount of energy that they generate, but they are essential to the operation of the grid because of their location. they keep supplies flowing through the power lines in the city. so,

and take a look at your plants. horticulturist david kirby said we saw warm temperatures and january and february, so now the cold winter season may have fooled some plants into early blooms. now leaving them at risk. he says the most important thing you can do for your plants to protect against the cold weather is to make sure they are well watered before you go to bed tonight and sensitive plants and trees should also be covered. >> essentially it's a cloth that allows air to penetrate it. and water to penetrate it. but it's thick enough not to let the frost go through. so it acts as a little insulation around your plants. especially if you have sit trugs, young avocado trees, just getting established, any annuals or early-season vegetables like lettuce and things like that. you want to make sure and cover. >> reporter: another concern with the chill, as i mentioned before, is, of course, the roadways, where the freezing temperatures caused problems with black ice overnight. and also early this morning. this is a