Stockton water advisory group elects officers, hears update on nearly completed $248 million wastewater upgrade

The Stockton Water Advisory Group elected its chair and vice chair by unanimous roll-call votes and spent the remainder of the meeting receiving an overview of municipal utilities operations and a progress report on the Regional Wastewater Control Facility modifications project, a multi-year upgrade to the city’s main wastewater treatment plant.

The advisory group — created by City of Stockton Resolution 90279 and charged with “review[ing] and advis[ing] the Council Water Committee on current and future policy issues impacting water, wastewater and stormwater utilities” — heard from Director of Municipal Utilities Dr. Mel Lytle and senior department staff about department roles, ongoing capital projects and customer-facing programs.

At the start of the meeting members unanimously approved the previous meeting’s minutes and then held separate votes to elect a chair and a vice chair. A motion to elect Pat as chair passed on a 4-0 roll call; a subsequent motion to elect Member Harper as vice chair also passed 4-0. Movers and seconders for the motions were not specified in the meeting record.

Dr. Mel Lytle told the group the advisory body’s work should focus on water, wastewater and stormwater issues and act as a conduit to the City Council’s Water Committee. “The group shall review and advise the Council Water Committee on current and future policy issues impacting water, wastewater and stormwater utilities as directed by the council water committee,” Lytle read from the rules document included in the meeting packet.

Department introductions and programs

Municipal Utilities staff introduced their divisions and responsibilities. Travis Small, deputy director of water resources, summarized the drinking-water side of the operation and described recruitment and certification requirements for plant operators. “The maximum certification level is a grade 5,” Small said, explaining state staffing and certification levels for water treatment and distribution roles.

Vanessa Piccinini, public outreach lead, summarized community programs including the Salmon-in-the-Classroom aquarium program and regular outreach at community events, and Nancy Zong, finance officer, described the department’s role in budget development and billing. Staff also noted citywide projects such as an automated meter infrastructure (AMI) rollout to provide near–hourly meter reads and a groundwater recharge planning effort intended to store winter Delta water underground for later use.

Regional Wastewater Control Facility modifications project

Engineering and project staff provided a detailed briefing on the wastewater plant upgrade — a replacement of older secondary-treatment infrastructure with activated-sludge aeration basins, new secondary clarifiers, new filtration and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, and an upgraded final discharge pump station. Arlie (Ali) Gergozlu, deputy director of engineering and department services, described the technical scope and the regulatory drivers: the plant must meet more stringent state discharge limits.

Gergozlu summarized the treatment chain used at the plant: headworks and screening to remove large debris; grit removal; primary sedimentation where heavy solids settle; biological (secondary) treatment where organisms consume dissolved organics; tertiary filtration and disinfection (now UV) before discharge to the San Joaquin River. He said the project replaced older trickling-filter secondary treatment with activated-sludge systems and moved tertiary treatment onto the main campus to improve operations and reduce risks associated with chlorine handling.

“We replaced the trickling filter process with an activated sludge,” Gergozlu said. “The project was completed as of June of ’24. Right now, the project is 99% complete.” (Statement as made in the meeting record.)

Capacity and byproducts

Staff described plant and system capacities: the city’s drinking-water treatment plant has a listed capacity of 30,000,000 gallons per day; the wastewater facility is described in the record as having a 55,000,000 gallons-per-day capacity. The wastewater collection system was described as roughly 900 miles of gravity sewer plus roughly 40 miles of pressurized mains, with dozens of pump stations (staff cited 28 sanitary pump stations and 77 storm pump stations).

The presentation also covered biosolids handling. Gergozlu explained the plant’s anaerobic digesters: sludge held in digesters at elevated temperature for a minimum retention period produces methane gas, which the plant uses as fuel for cogeneration engines. “A byproduct of that process is methane gas. We use that methane gas as a fuel source to run our cogeneration engines to produce electricity,” he said.

Budget, funding and timeline

Project funding and schedule were discussed in detail. The total project budget was stated in the meeting record as $248,000,000; staff said actual expenditures to date are lower than that budget. Major funding cited in the record includes a $108,000,000 WIFIA loan (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency low-interest financing), a $46,800,000 State Revolving Fund loan and a $10,000,000 grant from the California Department of Water Resources. Staff said ratepayer funds covered the remaining portion of project costs and that those costs contributed to subsequent rate increases.

Construction began in September 2019; staff reported that, for regulatory compliance purposes, the project was completed in June 2024 and the work is effectively 99% complete with only minor contractor punch-list items remaining.

Reuse, river discharge and regional arrangements

Staff explained that treated wastewater is discharged to the San Joaquin River and described how the city’s drinking-water intake farther downstream can withdraw river water; the department noted permit-based allowances that link discharge and potable withdrawal volumes. Staff also addressed longstanding intergovernmental agreements: the original regional plant arrangement formed in the 1970s included county and city partners and remains in effect, and noncity users pay fees and assessments for use of the regional facility.

Tours, public access and next steps

Staff said organized tours are possible but noted Brown Act constraints for larger groups, suggesting small groups or an agendized tour. The department asked advisory group members for future questions and recommendations and closed the presentation after a question-and-answer period.

Votes at a glance: approval and officer elections

- Approval of minutes: Motion passed, roll-call vote 4-0 (Member Singh: yes; Member Sanguinetti: yes; Member Harper: yes; Member Barrett: yes). Mover/second not specified in the recorded transcript.

- Election of chair: Motion to elect Pat as chair passed, roll-call vote 4-0. Mover/second not specified in the recorded transcript.

- Election of vice chair: Motion to elect Member Harper as vice chair passed, roll-call vote 4-0. Mover/second not specified in the recorded transcript.

The advisory group adjourned after members thanked staff and said they looked forward to future briefings and providing recommendations to the City Council Water Committee.