The Modesto City Council has approved a nearly $144 million project to rehabilitate the River Trunk sewage pipeline, which handles about 24% of the city’s domestic and commercial waste. The decision, made in a 6-1 vote on September 23, includes issuing $60 million in revenue bonds to help fund the work.
District 3 Councilmember Chris Ricci cast the lone dissenting vote. He said, “There was a real opportunity to make the city better, and we missed it, and so I wanted to make sure people saw that we missed it.”
The five-mile-long pipeline runs from Beard Industrial Park in east Modesto under E.&J. Gallo Winery and Dry Creek before reaching the Sutter Avenue treatment plant. Over its 50- to 60-year lifespan, it has experienced leaks, ruptures, collapses, and even sinkholes due to aging infrastructure.
William Wong, Modesto’s director of utilities, explained that corrosion has become a significant problem because the pipeline is unlined reinforced concrete. “Over the last five years, we’ve had three major collapses of the River Trunk line,” Wong said. “Obviously, they were all unexpected, but we knew that this was a problem.”
In October 2021, more than 200,000 gallons of raw sewage mixed with storm runoff entered Dry Creek after a corroded section failed. As part of a settlement agreement following this incident, Modesto provided $325,000 for showers and bathrooms at DignityMoves transitional housing in 2024.
Raw sewage can contain harmful substances such as coliform bacteria, nitrate and ammonia.
Wong noted that placing the original line within a floodplain near the Tuolumne River contributed to its current issues: “Our forefathers thought ‘That will be fine. Flood? What flood? What are the chances?’ And therein lies the problem.”
A Wastewater Master Plan completed in 2016 identified extensive corrosion throughout the trunk line and recommended rehabilitation within five years: “The condition assessment on the River Trunk concluded that excessive corrosion is present in the entire reach of the Trunk from Beard Brook to the Sutter Plant… Rehabilitation is recommended within the next five years.”
Modesto’s agreement with state water regulators included acknowledgment that planning for realignment was already underway.
The high cost of repairs is attributed largely to building a new pump station intended to serve multiple neighborhoods including east Modesto, Village One, Lakewood neighborhood, Sonoma Avenue area and eventually Tivoli development off Sylvan Avenue and Oakdale Road.
To prepare for these expenses and other long-term projects, sewer rates were increased by 3.5% annually starting in 2021; however, reserve funds alone are insufficient for this project’s full cost.
Deanna Christensen, director of finance for Modesto explained why bonds are needed: “Think of it like a mortgage. You have credit companies that look to ensure that we’re financially responsible to pay for both our current debt that we have for the fund as well as new bond proceeds.” Without bonds covering $60 million of costs upfront would have caused steep rate increases for customers. Christensen added that compared with nearby cities north and south of Modesto their rates remain relatively low.
Ricci expressed concern over public engagement regarding such an expensive undertaking: “When we talk about building other city facilities… there is going to be pearl-clutching and people freaking out.”
Construction could begin late this year or early next year depending on weather conditions; major activity should start by early spring. In southern sections where work overlaps with Stanislaus County projects like Seventh Street Bridge replacement traffic delays are expected but described as temporary by Wong: “Construction delays are just part of construction projects – they’re unavoidable,” he said. “But the good thing is they’re temporary.”
Completion is projected within three to three-and-a-half years.
“There’s nothing worse than having a sewer line spill out overflow or have clogs in system where system doesn’t work – so think of it as an investment into our infrastructure,” Wong said.
