Seal Beach officials say water, sewer systems need rate adjustments to cover $60M+ of near‑term needs

City staff told the council on May 8 that water and sewer infrastructure needs outpace available funds and that a pending rate study and financing plan are the path to address immediate and multi‑year work.

Director Lee and staff presented the water and sewer portion of the public works program and said the Lampson Well treatment system is budgeted using an Orange County Water District (OCWD) producers loan; the treatment scope is roughly $4.5 million and comprises most of a $5.1 million allocation listed for the item. The city also carries a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) program for utility monitoring and a multi‑year water main project tied to coordination with Los Cerritos Wetlands/LCWA restoration efforts.

Staff reported a sewer mainline improvement program in design and noted recent delamination of several manholes; Pump Station 35 on the easterly end (near Sealway Electric / Seal Beach Boulevard) is under construction as a carryover project. The presentation said staff is hesitant to commit to additional sewer construction until the rate adjustments are finalized because reserves may be insufficient to address an emergency repair without the new revenue.

On unfunded needs, staff presented estimates of over $40 million in unfunded water CIPs over five years and about $19 million in unfunded sewer needs over five years; staff said unmet work could risk public health and regulatory fines if deferred further. In addition to capital work, staff noted ongoing operating pressures such as wholesale water cost increases, regulatory compliance expenses, and funding for vehicle replacements; a $300,000 contribution to a vehicle replacement fund was proposed to follow the previously presented fleet plan.

The city emphasized that the water and sewer rate study and related revenue decisions are not yet fully implemented in the budget and that the council will see the results when staff returns with the rate study conclusions. Staff characterized the rate change as necessary so “the system would simply fail” otherwise, and cautioned that delaying action raises the risk of emergency failures and fines.

Public commenters raised household lateral replacement as an urgent local concern: one resident said privately paid lateral repairs to connect homes to the city sewer system can cost $12,000–$14,000 and asked the city to consider whether laterals should be a city responsibility or whether mitigation is possible when the city upgrades mains.

No formal action was taken at the workshop; staff will return with the rate‑study results and the council will consider funding and prioritization choices as part of the final budget.