The City of Bakersfield held a community meeting Monday night to discuss the sewer system and how the updates will impact the costs. The community meetings are a response to outrage from residents when they were given notice of their sewer rates going up earlier this year. The Bakersfield City Council rescinded its decision to accept the original plan and is now working with the community to show transparency in how the process works.
Councilmember Larry Koman attributed the abrupt rise to the fact that previous administrations had not been raising prices over the years.
“Here’s the problem: is that past administrations have not wanted to raise rates. Had we been doing a cost-of-living increase all along, we would be at that $900 rate right now,” said Koman. “But because we didn’t do that, now we’re having to play catch-up.”
Evette Roldan, Assistant Director of the Wastewater Department, broke down the current state of the sewer system. The city has two wastewater treatment plants, and when they are being designed, they look at suspended solids, concentration of wastewater, and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
Treatment plant two was originally built in 1939 and has had expansions in 1950, 1977, and 1997. Roldan explained that the plant is meant to treat 25 million gallons of water per day.
For wastewater, the plant is currently at 11.5, therefore, within the parameter. However, it was designed to have 327 milligrams of suspended solids per liter, and it is at 407. For BOD, it was designed to hold 251 milligrams per liter, and is at 433.
In 2018, they planned to rehabilitate two structures at treatment plant two that would help with the life span of the plant; however, the contractor found bigger issues within the infrastructure. There was a 250-foot-long pipe, according to Roldan, which was in dire need of repair.
“This particular pipe was installed during the 1977 expansion. So it had been used for quite a while. The initial project I described to you had a cost of $1 million. In order to address this unforeseen condition, it was a $680,000 change,” said Roldan.
They were able to do the replacement, but then in 2022, when an operator was completing his rounds, he called Roldan, explaining that he had found a hole. Once they began digging to see what was going on, they found that a 300-foot-long pipe was missing 30 feet of the top. This was a pipe that was originally installed in 1997 and cost $775,000 to fix.
Treatment plant three was built in 1970 with major expansions happening in 1984, 1988, 1997, and 2007. It was designed for 32 million gallons of wastewater a day, 333 milligrams of suspended solids per liter, and for BOD 500 milligrams per liter.
Currently, the treatment plant is at 21.2 gallons of wastewater per day, which is 66% of capacity. For suspended solids, the plant is at 306 milligrams per liter, and for BOD, it is at 378. While treatment plant three is not at capacity yet, Roldan explained it is time to start planning.
“You want to start planning for the next expansion around this time, because you don’t want to be at capacity and have no planning,” said Roldan. ‘With all the committing process, the design process, validation process, it can be a lengthy time between saying, okay, we’re ready to spread this project, versus now we’re ready to accept that additional flow.”
Based on the trend they have observed over the last five years, showing an average annual increase of 1.2 million in flow, the treatment plant will reach capacity by 2033. However, Roldan pointed out that if the city were to reach its housing plan requirements, which is 4,700 houses per year, versus the current average of 1,500, the plant would be at capacity by 2026.
“Highly unlikely for that to happen, so just sort of for our consideration, if we take a middle ground, 2,400. We’re looking at capacity in 2029,” said Roldan, emphasizing that it is still sooner than they’d like, hence the need to start planning.
Roldan explained that they have to explain why the updates are needed and how the sewer system works in order to justify the rates to the community.
“Proposition 218 in California basically says that we, as a water agency, have to prove to you, the constituents, that our rates are properly founded, that this is not for profit. This is how much it costs, and this is what it costs per household to provide this service, and this is what we are proposing,” said Roldan.
In order to do this, they created a 10-year plan identifying maintenance needs, staff increases, growth projects, and regulatory requirements. According to Roldan, in the next 10 years, they expect the overall cost to range from $61 million to $317 million. Their expected revenue at the current rates ranges between $48 million and around $68.9 million. If rates do not change, Roldan stated that the shortfall will be $2.4 million in year one and potentially $252 million by 2031.
Roldan stated that the current rate for a sewer user is $247.13 per year, which is around $20 a month. She recalled the notices that went out earlier this year with the $950 annual rate that would have taken place on July 1, 2025, before the approval was rescinded by the city council due to the public’s response.
“Lessons learned. We definitely understood that there was a lack of information in our public, and we wanted to do better by that. We want to correct, and that is why we are having these community meetings to be more transparent, answer your questions, and really get a sense of where the gap is, the knowledge gap, and can we bridge it,” said Roldan.
On October 22, 2025, Roldan stated that they will be presenting to the city council the full cost of service analysis results and the options. In January 2026, they will request that the council approve mailing out new notices with the rate that is approved at that time.
After the presentation, the community asked more questions about the process, but also demanded that the city find a better solution to developmental projects so that it does not impact the residents in such a harsh way.
Roldan explained that currently, enough money is not collected for the department to handle the day-to-day things. Using the analysis they received from a consultant, they will present what the minimum they can take in order to operate and maintain projects.
One community member raised the question of what the bidding process is like for projects and how the city makes sure the process is competitive.
Roldan explained that after they go through the process of design and the criteria needed, they post the project on PlanetBids for five to six weeks. After all bids are collected, the project goes to the lowest bidder who is qualified to do the project.
Another issue mentioned by the audience is that community members who are on low or fixed incomes have to take on large and unexpected costs.
“You know, a third of our population here in our city are on Medicaid or MediCal, there’s a very sizable population on Medicare, both fixed or no income,” said Alan Avery. “I think we need to take a look at how we’re going to take care of those folks, which is probably half our population are on fixed or no income.”
Avery continued to say that while he does not want to add onto the city’s work, there needs to be a change. He suggested charging businesses more or developers who are coming to Bakersfield, because the cost is low.
Koman stated that these meetings are important because it is what was missing when they announced the raising of prices in the Spring. He hopes that community members come out to the meetings and see the importance of being involved.
Community meetings coming up will all start at 6 p.m.
- Monday, October 13, South High School Cafeteria
- Wednesday, October 15, Ridgeview High School Library
- Thursday, October 16, Mill Creek Community House
- Tuesday, October 21, Kern City Civic Association
- Monday, October 27, NOR Recreation Center
