Riverbank sewer rates could reach $109 a month by 2027. It might have been worse
Sewer rates in Riverbank would go as high as $109 a month by 2027 under a plan that got initial approval Tuesday night.
The City Council voted 5-0 to launch a public-input process that will end with a Dec. 13 hearing. Under state law, protests from a majority of customers would block the increases.
Riverbank plans to use the money for about $90 million in upgrades to its sewage treatment system. The city is seeking state and federal funding that could reduce the rate hikes. And it hopes to recoup part of the cost by selling the highly treated water to nearby farmers
Residents now pay $49.48 a month for sewer service. The charge would rise to $58.39 in 2023, $68.90 in 2024, $81.30 in 2025, $95.12 in 2026 and $109.39 in 2027.
The council rejected an option that would have topped out at $123.13 a month. The chosen rate schedule means deferring about $22 million worth of treatment improvements while still meeting standards for recycled water.
Seven decades of operation
The plant has operated for about 70 years just north of the Stanislaus River and west of Santa Fe Avenue. It uses screens, settling ponds and other methods to make the water clean enough to seep into the aquifer.
The project would add steps that make the water safe for crops. This would be a tiny addition to the region’s irrigation but could be welcome to farmers facing short supplies.
Riverbank has researched the project under a $150,000 grant from the State Water Resources Control Board. The council heard a presentation Tuesday by consulting engineer Neal Colwell from the firm of Kjeldsen, Sinnock and Neudeck, based in Stockton and West Sacramento.
Colwell said the $109.39 monthly rate in 2027 could be reduced to $100.98 if grants provide $15 million toward the project. The charge would be $86.70 if grants totaled $40 million. The city also is seeking a low-interest loan.
Three nearby cities recycle water
Stanislaus County is among the pioneers in water recycling. The effluent from Modesto, Ceres and Turlock goes to farmland in the Del Puerto Water District on the West Side. The district covered the $82 million cost because it often has scant allotments from the federal Delta-Mendota Canal.
Riverbank plans to send its recycled water to an area just outside the South San Joaquin Irrigation District. It would be costlier than the district’s canal supply but it could allow the farmers to do less pumping from wells.
“It’s not water that just goes away,” Mayor Richard O’Brien said before the vote. “It’s water that’s reused again and again.”
City officials said the new rates have to be approved before the grant applications can be filed. The council also plans a Dec. 13 vote on the environmental impact report for the treatment upgrades. They could be completed in 2026 under the current schedule.
Riverbank must follow the rate-setting process under state Proposition 218. Customers will receive notices by mail in October and will have 45 days to file protests. They can do so by mail or at the Dec. 13 hearing.
