In addition to the regional alternative, the Town analyzed a number of options for building its own wastewater treatment plant. Those options ranked lower in almost every category when compared to the regional alternative with the City of Chico.

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board is also very supportive of the regional alternative, which in turn may translate to financial assistance for both the Town and the City.

1. Wastewater systems present economies of scale. As more people are served, the cost per person for treatment goes down.
2. Revenue to the City from the regional agreement will provide financial resources for infrastructure projects in the City’s long-term Capital Improvement Plan.
3. Regionalization will increase the City’s footing to secure future financial assistance.
4. Regional recovery equates to a stronger economy for the Town, City and County.

No, the project is not part of groundwater recharge project exploration efforts by the Paradise Irrigation District (PID) or others. As of early 2021, PID is in the conceptual planning phases of its project and the Town has moved into the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) phase of the Paradise Sewer Project. The project’s EIR will not serve as an EIR for any other project.

Pipe alignment is one of the items the EIR process and Sewer Regionalization Project Advisory Committee (SRPAC) will discuss. Among other options, the EIR is analyzing an alignment that will run down Skyway, then along the anticipated future Southgate Avenue Interchange alignment, then along existing south Chico roads to the Chico WPCP.

Several short alternative segments near Chico will be analyzed during the EIR and a final route selected.

Professional studies from industry experts in every decade since 1980 have been completed and all essentially come to the same conclusion: the Town is running out of time. It is inevitable that the continual degradation of groundwater quality, and exceedance of soil capacities to absorb and treat high volumes of wastewater will require action on behalf of the Town and its constituents. Please see below for a quick recap of the various studies that have been conducted to date.

	2020 HDR Phase 1 Executive Summary			2017 Final Feasibility Report
	2012 TOP Wastewater Treatment Historical Background and Comparative Analysis (PDF, 2.9MB)			2010 TOP Wastewater Treatment & Collection System Feasibility Study for the Downtown Community Cluster System (PDF 2.2MB)
	2004 TOP Downtown Revitalization Area Clustered Wastewater Treatment System(s) Master Plan (PDF, 18 MB)			2000 TOP Downtown Revitalization Master Plan (PDF, 3.2MB)
	1992 TOP Wastewater Collection, Treatment and Disposal Preliminary Design Report – Volume 1 (PDF, 22.7MB)			1992 TOP Wastewater Collection, Treatment and Disposal Preliminary Design Report – Volume 2 (PDF, 80.4MB)
	1989 TOP Sewer Project Feasibility Study (PDF, 49.9MB)			1985 TOP Wastewater Management Plan Phase II Report (PDF, 124.3MB)
	1984 TOP Wastewater Management Study Supplementary Phase I Report (PDF, 16.8MB)			1983 TOP Wastewater Management Study Phase I Report (PDF, 41.9MB)

Over the past seven years, the Town has held 65 public discussions on the project in order to share information and allow for public comment. To learn more about these past meetings, click here.

The Town lost 83 percent of its residents during the Camp Fire. As the Town builds back and re-establishes its pre-fire population level, the project will support the recovery of housing and economic activity within the Sewer Service Area.

Yes, the City has a provision in its municipal code, Section 15.40.285—Regulation of Waste Received from Other Jurisdictions, for just such a case.

Section 15.40.285 begins with the following text:

• If another municipality or user located within another municipality contributes wastewater to the city’s sanitary sewer system, the director shall enter into an inter-municipal agreement with the contributing municipality. Prior to entering into an agreement, the director shall request the following information from the contributing municipality:
• A description of the quality and volume of wastewater discharged to the city’s sanitary sewer system by the contributing municipality;
• An inventory of all users located within the contributing municipality that are discharging to the city’s sanitary sewer system; and
• Such other information as the director may deem necessary.

Section 15.40.285 requires an inter-municipal agreement to address the following:

• The contributing municipality (Paradise) must adopt a sewer use ordinance which contains equal or more stringent standards as the City’s standards.
• The contributing municipality must prepare an annual inventory summarizing the entities discharging to the sewer system.
• Define which pretreatment and monitoring activities will be done by the Town versus the City.
• Specify limits on the nature, quality, and volume of the contributing municipality’s wastewater.
• Provide the City access to pertinent facilities, and pretreatment sampling and monitoring results.
• Specify remedies for a potential breach in terms of the Agreement.

When one agency has wastewater service provided by another (in this case, the City providing wastewater treatment service to the Town), a legal contract must be entered into that spells out all the details of that arrangement. There are two options for the Town and City to come together; these options will be discussed by the Sewer Regionalization Project Advisory Committee (SRPAC):

• The City and Town enter into an inter-municipal agreement, as spelled out in the City’s municipal code, Section 15.40.285—Regulation of Waste Received from Other Jurisdictions. This type of agreement is sometimes called a “contract to serve.”
• The City and Town create a JPA, which is typically more complex than an agreement. A JPA is an on-going entity with a governing board.

A significant portion of the pipeline carrying wastewater from the Town to the Chico WPCP passes through unincorporated Butte County. Therefore, a Butte County Public Works Encroachment Permit will be required.

In addition, the County will be an important reviewer of the EIR.

Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCos) review proposals for the formation of new cities and special districts, and for changes in the boundaries of existing cities and special districts.

Due to the fact that the Town sits outside of the City’s current wastewater service area, Butte LAFCo will need to approve the Town/City wastewater arrangement.

Butte LAFCo will also be instrumental in reviewing and commenting on the EIR.

As stated in the “Phase 1 Executive Summary” (HDR Engineering, November 2020), the estimated project costs are:

$2M EIR

$30M Design and Right-of-way

$152M Construction

The Town will pursue a number of potential funding sources during Phase 2 to fund both design and right-of-way efforts (Phase 3) and construction (Phase 4). Potential funding sources include:

• A state appropriation (working in conjunction with the City and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development funds
• California Department of Housing and Community Development, Community Development Block Grants – Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR)
• U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)

The City will not be out of pocket for any costs. During Phase 1, the Town worked with the City to estimate the potential costs to the City in Phase 2 to participate in the development of the project.

The current estimate for the City’s work is $300,000. Should this budget be exhausted, the Town will lead efforts to secure additional funding.

Construction for the project is currently estimated to begin in mid-2024 and go through late-2026.

Congressman Doug LaMalfa:

“Completing the recovery efforts in Paradise requires that Sewer infrastructure be addressed and constructed. The intertie project with the City of Chico is a solution that will benefit the town of Paradise and the region economically. The proposed connection would also provide much needed upgrades to the water treatment infrastructure in the City of Chico where many residents of Paradise relocated. This is the most cost-effective option for ratepayers and I support this plan.”

Assemblyman James Gallagher:

“A sewer serving core Paradise areas will increase fire resiliency, improve environmental conditions, and aid the area’s economic recovery. I fully support the Town’s effort to provide sewer treatment via an intertie with Chico, and encourage close cooperation and collaboration between jurisdictions. This is a regional issue - the lack of sewer infrastructure threatens water resources and impairs the region’s recovery efforts. This option also provides for economies of scale, benefitting both jurisdictions by distributing permitting, operation, and maintenance costs.”

There are two main types of construction contracts for water and wastewater systems: a traditional design-bid-build (DBB) contract and the newer design-build (DB) approach. Under state law, both the Town and the Paradise Irrigation District (PID) are allowed to use the DBB approach, but not the DB approach.

AB 36 would give the Town permission to use a DB contracting approach on all components of the Paradise Sewer System.

AB 36 does not tie together the Paradise Sewer Project (led by the Town) and a potential groundwater recharge project (led by PID). It also does not commit either project to using the newer DB approach.