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Kalamazoo City director flags higher baseline water production, plans to consolidate wells and expand iron treatment
Summary
City Public Services Director James Baker told the Utility Policy Committee that long-term production trends show higher baseline flows, the city plans to retire many small wells and drill fewer higher-capacity wells, and staff will expand iron treatment to reduce water-quality complaints.
James Baker, Kalamazoo City Public Services Director and city engineer, presented the director's annual water-system and asset-management reports to the Utility Policy Committee on March 12, 2026, saying the system's long-term baseline flow is higher than in past decades and that drought-era spikes around 2007 and 2012 still appear in a 20-year production chart.
Baker said these higher baseline flows, together with episodic drought spikes, inform capital planning: "Those spikes in 2007 to 2012 were water production during drought years," he said, and the city must size treatment and production capacity to meet both normal- and high-demand years. He told the committee the city is programming investments in well fields and station production capacity to address the trend.
The director outlined operational priorities. Staff track…
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