Title
Approval of Preliminary Project Design and Certification of the Environmental Impact Report for the Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project
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FileID
File ID: 2026-00723
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Location
Location: Citywide
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Recommendation
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution: 1) certifying the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and adopting the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations and adopting the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP); and 2) pass a Motion approving the preliminary project design for the Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project.
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Contact
Contact: Megan Thomas, Senior Engineer, (916) 808-1729, methomas@cityofsacramenro.org; Sherill Huun, Engineering Division Manager, (916) 808-1455, shuun@cityofsacramento.org; Dalia Fadl, Director, (916) 808-3765, dfadl@cityofsacramento.org; Department of Utilities
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Presenter
Presenter: None
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Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution
3-Exhibit A - Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations
4-Exhibit B - Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program
5-Preliminary Project Design Report
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Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: Staff recommends Council adopt a resolution 1) certifying the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and adopting the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations and adopting the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP), and 2) pass a motion approving the preliminary project design for the Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project.
The Department of Utilities (DOU) is in the process of planning for the Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project (Water+ Project). The Water+ Project includes significant improvements at both of the City’s drinking water treatment plants: Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant (SRWTP), located north of downtown, and E. A. Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant (FWTP), located east of Sacramento State University. These improvements replace critical treatment infrastructure past its useful life, improve resiliency to address environmental and regulatory changes impacting drinking water, and increase the drinking water treatment capacity at the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant in order to ensure sufficient water supply to support projected water use increases through 2050.
Alongside the creation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Water+ Project, staff completed a preliminary project design report to better define the needed elements of the project. City Council approval of the preliminary project design and certification of the EIR is required to begin the design phase for the Water+ Project Phase 1 improvements.
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PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: The Water+ Project is consistent with the 2040 General Plan’s objectives. Staff has evaluated the project and concluded the project balances the need for water infrastructure improvements and preservation of historic and cultural resources to the greatest extent feasible and is consistent with the goals and policies of the 2040 General Plan Public Facilities and Safety, Utility Infrastructure, Water Supply, and the Historic and Cultural Resources elements. Specific goals the Water+ Project addresses are as follows:
Public Facilities and Safety:
• PFS-2.2 - Critical Infrastructure: The City shall protect and maintain critical infrastructure such as emergency shelters, fire stations, police stations, emergency operations centers, communications networks, and other emergency service facilities and utilities to ensure continuity of essential operations, including, but not limited to, uninterrupted public safety services during flooding, seismic, geologic, wildfire, and other hazards.
Utility Infrastructure:
• PFS-3.1 - Provision of Adequate Utilities: The City shall continue to provide reliable water, wastewater, and stormwater drainage utility services.
• PFS-3.5 - Water Treatment Capacity and Infrastructure: The City shall plan, secure funding for, and procure sufficient water treatment capacity and infrastructure to meet projected maximum daily water demand, including expansion or rehabilitation of existing treatment plant infrastructure.
• PFS-3.10 - Meet Projected Needs: The City shall foster the orderly and efficient expansion of facilities and infrastructure to adequately meet projected needs, comply with current and future regulations, and maintain public health, safety, and welfare. Infrastructure and facility planning should discourage over-sizing of infrastructure that could induce growth at the edges of the city beyond what is anticipated in the General Plan.
Water Supply:
• PFS-4.3 - Surface Water Supply: The City shall continue to explore and advance options for diverting, treating, and conveying surface water to be able to continue fully meeting potable supply demand.
Historic and Cultural Resources:
• HCR-1.1 - Preservation of Historic and Cultural Resources, Landscapes, and Site Features: The City will continue to promote the preservation, restoration, enhancement, and recognition of historic and cultural resources throughout the city.
• HCR-1.10 - Demolition: Consistent with Secretary of the Interior Standards, the City shall consider demolition of historic resources as a last resort, to be permitted only if rehabilitation or adaptive reuse of the resource is not feasible; demolition is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its residents; or the public benefits outweigh the loss of the historic resource.
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EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: None.
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EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations: A Notice of Preparation (NOP) of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) was filed with the Office of Planning and Research (now the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation); sent to each responsible and trustee agency, was posted at the office of the Sacramento County Clerk, and was circulated for public comments from April 6, 2022 through May 6, 2022.
A DEIR was prepared and filed with the State Clearinghouse on June 20, 2025. A Notice of Availability (NOA) of the DEIR was posted at the office of the Sacramento County Clerk and was mailed to all interested groups, organizations, and individuals who had previously requested notice in writing on June 20, 2025.
An official 45-day public review period for the DEIR was established by the State Clearinghouse, ending on August 4, 2025. A total of 5 (five) comments were received regarding the DEIR.
The Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) document has been prepared in accordance with CEQA and together with the DEIR (and appendices) constitutes the EIR for the proposed project. The FEIR responds to all comments received on the DEIR and revised text and/or analyses where warranted. The comments and responses, including changes, do not alter the conclusions of the DEIR. Certification of the EIR, adoption of the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, and adoption of Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations by the City Council satisfies CEQA requirements relating to the project.
The Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project DEIR and FEIR can be found at:
https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/community-development/planning/environmental/impact-reports
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Sustainability
Sustainability: The proposed project is consistent with the 2040 General Plan under the following policies:
• PFS-2.2 as the project will maintain critical infrastructure to ensure continuity of essential services;
• PFS-3.1 as the project ensures the continuation of providing reliable drinking water;
• PFS-3.5 as the project is planning for expansion and rehabilitation for both drinking water treatment plants;
• PFS-3.10 as the project ensures the expanded infrastructure will be in place to adequately meet projected needs and future regulations;
• PFS-4.3 as the project will advance treatment and surface water conveyance to fully meet potable supply demands;
• HCR-1.1 as the project recognizes the historic elements within the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant; and,
• HCR-1.10 as the demolition of historic resources has been considered necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its residents.
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Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: On February 18, 2026, staff presented the Water+ Project to the Preservation Commission seeking a recommendation for City Council to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report, adopt the Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations for the significant impacts the project would have on the city-owned historical resources, and approve the Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project. At this meeting there were no comments regarding the environmental documents and the Preservation Commission voted to support the requested recommendation.
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RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: The availability of surface water treatment capacity for existing and future customer demand is forecasted to reach its limits by 2039, at which time new water supply capacity will be needed. These forecasts consider city growth estimated in the 2040 General Plan, conservation performance, sustainable groundwater management activities, likely wholesale contracts, and various rules governing water diversions from the rivers. The 2023 Water Master Plan Update also outlined the necessary steps to secure additional water supply by expanding and creating additional treatment capacity at the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant and making modifications to E. A. Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant.
The proposed Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project is necessary to meet these goals and meet future water supply demands for the City.
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FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: Not applicable.
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LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
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Background
Background: The proposed Sacramento Water+ Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project (Water+ Project) is designed to achieve the project objectives (noted below) through multiple phases of work. The initial phase would improve treatment reliability by replacing facilities at the end of their effective lives. This phase of work would also provide treatment resiliency through the addition of ozone treatment to both the E. A. Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant (FWTP) and the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant (SRWTP). In parallel with the initial reliability and resiliency improvements at both water treatment plants, the SRWTP raw-water supply and treatment capacity would be increased from 160 million gallons per day (MGD) to 235 MGD. Timing of the components of this phase will depend on available funding and project timing.
Additional phases would be staged to meet the increasing City potable water demand through 2050 for an ultimate capacity of 310 MGD at the SRWTP. No expansion of treatment capacity at the FWTP would be implemented due to limitations placed on withdrawal amounts from the American River. Specifically, implementation of the proposed project would involve the following components:
• Replacement of aging infrastructure at both FWTP and SRWTP;
• Integration of ozone into the treatment process at both FWTP and SRWTP;
• Conversion from chlorine gas to sodium hypochlorite as the primary chemical for disinfection of the water at both FWTP and SRWTP;
• Construction and operation of a secondary intake in the Sacramento River and pipelines for transferring water to SRWTP;
• Expansion of existing treatment processes at SRWTP to accommodate the additional capacity (including the grit basins, flocculation and sedimentation basins, filtration, and finished water storage);
• Installation of pipelines between the existing Sacramento River Intake and the replacement intake and SRWTP; and
• Improvement of the water transmission and distribution system in the vicinity of SRWTP to address critical hydraulic constrictions.
Water+ Project Origins and Goals
Preceding the Water+ Project, DOU has undertaken significant planning work on projected water demands, facility capacity, and the preferred alternatives to meet future demand. These planning efforts occurred over the past decade.
The planning efforts are memorialized in the following documents:
• 2013 Water Supply Master Plan: The most comprehensive document to consider the suite of projects to address future needs for capacity, conveyance, storage, and conjunctive use. It considered capital, land, Operation and Maintenance requirements, legal, and mitigations costs.
• 2015 Long-Term Water Treatment Capacity Evaluation Project: Following the 2013 Water Supply Master Plan, the City commissioned a new study to develop more detailed costs of the surface water supply alternatives. Ultimately this study concurred with prior studies that the most cost-effective project was the increased treatment capacity at the SRWTP.
In 2019, DOU contracted with Carollo Engineers (an engineering consulting firm) to perform the conceptual design for the needed improvements for the future increased capacity at the SRWTP. Since the original contract, the project objective expanded to provide a reliable, resilient, and safe water supply while meeting the City’s projected potable water demand. Project specific objectives include:
• Increase treatment flexibility to address changing water qualities within the Sacramento and American Rivers and to meet drinking water regulations;
• Improve safety, reliability, and resiliency of both surface water treatment plants;
• Provide for consistent treatment and distribution of potable water to the service area; and,
• Increase reliable water supply and treatment capacity to meet projected water demand.
Preservation Commission Review and Necessary Findings
Pursuant to Sacramento City Code section 17.604.420, the Preservation Commission is responsible for reviewing site plan and design review applications for development projects involving city-owned landmarks, contributing resources, or noncontributing resources within historic districts. For such city projects, the Preservation Commission does not issue a final decision but provides comments and recommendations to the City Council or other decision-making body. The same standards, guidelines, and findings applicable to private projects are applied to city projects.
Throughout project planning and development, DOU staff was actively engaged with Preservation staff at the Community Development Department to reduce or avoid impacts to historical resources, particularly as it pertains to the SRWTP site, which is a historic landmark listed on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources in 2011. On January 22, 2025, DOU staff presented the proposed project to the Preservation Commission to determine if there were any initial concerns regarding the anticipated impacts to historical elements within SRWTP. At this meeting, no immediate concerns were identified.
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