WaterPlus

The Department of Utilities in 2021 launched Water+, a program designed to help ensure safe, high-quality drinking water supply for customers.

The program will also help protect long-term drinking water reliability, resiliency to climate change and help meet future water demands of the City of Sacramento.

Water+ has several goals, which include:

  • Improving water treatment methods to meet changing water quality in the Sacramento and American rivers as well as changing drinking water regulations.
  • Improving the safety and reliability of the City’s surface water treatment plants -- the E.A. Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant and the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant.
  • Providing consistent drinking water treatment and distribution to City customers.
  • Increasing water treatment supply and capacity to meet future water demands.

The program will replace and expand aging facilities, improve water treatment methods to be safer and more environmentally friendly and make overall system improvements.

Environmental Impact Report

The Water Plus program Notice of Availability (NOA) is available, and the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is accessible for review and comment.

This Draft EIR is available to federal, state, and local agencies and interested organizations and individuals who may want to review and comment on the adequacy of the analysis. Publication of the Draft EIR marks the beginning of a 45-day public review period. The 45-day public review period for this Draft EIR is June 20, 2025 to Aug. 4, 2025 at 5 p.m.

During the public review period, written comments must be postmarked by Aug. 4, 2025, and mailed or emailed to:

Charlie Tschudin, Senior Planner
City of Sacramento Community Development Department
300 Richards Blvd., Third Floor
Sacramento, CA 95811
ctschudin@cityofsacramento.org

Use “Water Project Draft EIR Comments” in the subject line. If submitting comments on behalf of an agency, tribal group, or organization, include the name of a contact person and the name of the group that the comments are coming from. All comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of the official public administrative record.

Next steps: Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvement Project

The first phase of Water+ includes the Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project, which will help improve the long-term safety, reliability and resiliency of the City’s water supply, and address several issues defined in the City’s 2035 General Plan.

The project will feature several water treatment improvements, including:

  • Replacing aging infrastructure and facilities that are reaching the end of their useful lives
  • Improvements to the treatment process at both water treatment facilities
  • A new Sacramento River water intake structure and new pipelines to the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant
  • Improvements to water transmission and distribution systems near the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant

The Treatment Plants Resiliency and Improvements Project is currently undergoing an environmental review process:

  • An Environmental Impact Report Public Scoping Meeting was held on April 27, 2022.
  • A period for public comments closed in early May 2022 for the environmental “Notice of Preparation.”
  • City staff are preparing a draft Environmental Impact Report that is expected to be released in summer 2025.
  • The project will be designed and constructed in multiple phases, with the first phase of construction expected to begin by 2026.

Future phases will be scheduled based on water demands and funding.

Contact us

For questions about Water, email WaterPlus@CityofSacramento.org or call 916-808-1873.

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