Project Information

Notice of Exemption

Project Description

Media Release - Sewer Project Update WWTF Sites (Feb. 6, 2026)

Executive Summary

Final PEIR Main Document

Final PEIR Addendum

Appendix A: NOP Scoping Report

Appendix B: Town of Paradise 1994 General Plan Resolution and Amendments

Appendix C: Regulatory Framework

Appendix D: Emissions Modeling

Appendix E: Vegetation Community Descriptions and Special-Status Species Accounts

Appendix F: Swainson’s Hawk Survey and Elderberry Shrub Mapping Report

Appendix G: Tribal Consultation

Appendix H: Pump Station Energy Consumption Calculation

Appendix I: Public Comments and Responses on Draft PEIR

Final PEIR Notice of Determination

Executive Summary

Chapters 1-7

Appendix A: NOP Scoping Report

Appendix B: Town of Paradise 1994 General Plan Resolution and Amendments

Appendix C: Regulatory Framework

Appendix D: Emissions Modeling

Appendix E: Vegetation Community Descriptions and Special-Status Species Accounts

Appendix F: Swainson’s Hawk Survey and Elderberry Shrub Mapping Report

Appendix G: Tribal Consultation

Appendix H: Pump Station Energy Consumption Calculation

Notice of Availability / Public Notice

Public Scoping Notice of Preparation

Public Scoping Notice (Enterprise Record & Paradise Post)

Draft PEIR Notice of Availability

Draft PEIR Notice of Availability and Public Meeting

Final PEIR Notice of Determination

Fact Sheet

Draft PEIR Public Meeting Display Boards

Town Council Final PEIR Meeting Presentation

Public Scoping Summary Report

In 2023, a rate analysis was performed that concluded that the Paradise Sewer Project needed to be entirely grant funded in order to be financially feasible for the rate payers. After completing the Basis of Design Report in 2024, the cost estimate for the Regionalization Project with input from the design engineer and contractor exceeded the amount of publicly available grant funds for projects of this nature. As a result of these reports and discussions with the State Water Board, it was determined that it is not financially feasible to proceed with the project with the regionalization option. In January 2025, Town Council made the decision to change the scope of analysis from a Regionalized Sewer System to a Local Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF).

In August 2025, the Town Council voted to approve the following sewer project description: Hybrid gravity/low-pressure (STEP) collection system with aerated lagoon wastewater treatment process and percolation pond land discharge. While procuring design services for the WWTF, the Town started looking for a viable site for the treatment and discharge facility. A desktop study of the region and soil testing at a few potential WWTF sites were conducted by the design engineer, concluding that the soils in and near Paradise will not work for percolation ponds of this size. Therefore, the treated effluent from any treatment facility will need to be discharged to a stream instead of onto land. One of the three project alternatives analyzed by the Ad Hoc Committee in 2025 included discharge to a surface water stream instead of onto land; therefore in June 2026, Town Council approved changing the project to a hybrid collection system with membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment process and surface water discharge system, the runner-up alternative analyzed in the July/August 2025 alternatives analysis.

The Paradise Sewer Project’s focus prioritizes service to commercial areas and higher-density neighborhoods that are most vulnerable to groundwater degradation and economic constraints associated with septic system limitations.  

The Core Collection System will be built in phases, with the first preliminary service area (Phase 1) being built in the Historic Downtown District, where it is expected to have the greatest impact on housing recovery and economic revitalization. Future phases will expand service to other areas of Paradise as funding and project needs allow.  

A modern sewer system in the downtown corridor will provide communitywide benefits, including for properties that are not directly connected to the system. Expanded sewer service will support economic growth by creating opportunities businesses investment, redevelopment and higher-density housing where appropriate 

Town staff, in partnership with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board are currently evaluating . two sites as potential locations for Paradise’s future WWTF: Media Way (or Skyway South) and Clark Road. Both sites are being assessed for environmental and community impacts, which will be documented in the Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) expected to be released for public review and comment in early 2027. The final site selection will be based on the environmental review, technical feasibility, and the estimated capital and operating costs associated with each location.  

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

2020 Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board Alternatives Analysis

2017 Final Feasibility Report

2017 Fact Sheet

2012 TOP Wastewater Treatment Historical Background and Comparative Analysis

2010 TOP Wastewater Treatment & Collection System Feasibility Study for the Downtown Community Cluster System

2004 TOP Downtown Revitalization Area Clustered Wastewater Treatment System(s) Master Plan

2000 TOP Downtown Revitalization Master Plan

1992 TOP Wastewater Collection, Treatment and Disposal Preliminary Design Report – Volume 1

1992 TOP Wastewater Collection, Treatment and Disposal Preliminary Design Report – Volume 2

1989 TOP Sewer Project Feasibility Study

1985 TOP Wastewater Management Plan Phase II Report

1984 TOP Wastewater Management Study Supplementary Phase I Report

1983 TOP Wastewater Management Study Phase I Report

The Paradise Sewer Project Ad Hoc Committee was formed in January 2025 with the goal to increase project momentum while keeping the public apprised of project progress. The Ad Hoc Committee met biweekly with the project team from January 2025 through September 2026. In October 2026, the Ad Hoc Committee was reformed as a Standing Committee with public participation. As of October 2026, the Sewer Project Standing Committee members are Councilmember Heidi Lange (Chair), Mayor Steve Crowder, and Marc Sulik (Paradise Irrigation District). The Sewer Project Standing Committee meets monthly at Town Hall on the first Thursday of the month at 2:30pm. Meetings are also broadcast online.  Additionally, Sewer Project updates are given monthly at Town Council meetings. 

Since 2015, the Town has held 65+ public discussions on the project to share information and allow for public comment. To learn more about these past meetings, click here.

The Town held a community meeting about the project on March 5, 2025, at 6 p.m. To view a recording of the meeting, click here.

The Town held two Special Town Council meetings about the project with opportunities for public comment on July 24 and August 14, 2025. To view recordings of these meetings, click here.

Sewer Project updates are given monthly at Town Council meetings as a standing agenda item. Members of the public may provide comments on the agenda item in accordance with Town Council meeting protocols.

Phase 1 of the Core Collection System will be sized to maximize the Collection System footprint using grant funding already secured. Future phases of the Core Collection System will be designed and constructed based on securing additional funding. Generally, the Collection System, if approved, would start in the southwest part of Town and expand northward and eastward.

The sequencing of collection system construction is not yet established other than design of the Core Collection System has been prioritized. Based on future planning and funding, the Town will receive input regarding continued prioritization. It is possible for parts of the Extended Collection System to be advanced at the same time as the Core Collection System; however, design and a project-level environmental clearance would be completed prior to implementation, likely tiered to this programmatic environmental review.

A hybrid gravity/low-pressure collection system combines the benefits from both a gravity collection system and a low pressure (sometimes called STEP) collection system. In low-laying areas, properties will be able to connect to the sewer with a small onsite pump, such as a pump in the septic tank, that lifts wastewater up into the sewer pipe. This allows the main sewer collection pipes to be installed shallower and therefore, are less expensive to install. In areas where gravity makes sense, parcels can connect directly to the sewer main without an onsite pump, reducing capital cost and future operating costs.

A hydraulic analysis was performed independently by two different engineering firms and came to the same conclusion – a full low-pressure/STEP collection system for Paradise’s proposed service area is not technically feasible. The elevation change within the proposed service area would create very high pressure in a full STEP system’s collection pipes. The high pressure in the sewer pipes would prevent houses and businesses at the downhill end of the system from being able to pump their septic effluent into the pressurized sewer pipelines. The problem would only get worse as future system expansions serve areas of Town further uphill. Connecting areas of low-pressure service into a gravity sewer backbone that is not pressurized incorporates the benefits of STEP, while also not precluding future expansion, connections or operation.

For the full technical analysis of a low-pressure sewer system for Paradise, click here. ​​​​​

A recycled water system has a lot of benefits, and sustainability is an important value of the Town when making decisions. However, the cost of designing, building, and operating a recycled water system would significantly increase the initial project cost. Because recycled water pipes cannot be installed in the same trenches as sewer collection pipes due to separation requirements (see DDW letter), more trenching would be required, more road would be torn up, and construction and disruptions to businesses would last longer.

Additionally, a large year-round demand or use for recycled water has not been identified, meaning a surface water discharge system would still have to be built, permitted and operated to release excess water, ultimately increasing cost.

The project is being sized to serve the downtown corridor of Paradise, termed the Sewer Service Area (SSA). Generally speaking, the SSA may include parcels along Skyway, Pearson Road and Clark Road. The Subsequent PEIR is being prepared to construct the SSA through a phased approach as well as an expanded service area in other areas of Town. The latter expanded collection system is addressed at a programmatic level of analysis at this time. Scalability is a major priority to meet the needs of the Town now and into the future, so there may be possibilities to phase implementation of the original SSA including potentially expanding the SSA as funding becomes available. 

Existing properties within the service area that gain access to connect to the sewer system will not be required to connect or pay connection fees. However, new developments or properties with failing septic systems may be required to connect as the Town works toward a fully connected sewer system.     

The Town’s goal is to connect as many properties as possible as quickly as practical to support efficient system operations, maintain initial flow, and keep user rates down. To encourage early participation, the Town is evaluating programs and other options that could help increase customer connections, including potential incentivizes or subsidies. 

The Town lost 83 percent of its residents during the Camp Fire in 2018. 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 SSA. Any inducement of the population growth that might occur because of the Proposed Project in the shorter term would be a return and/or regrowth and repopulation toward pre-fire levels. Any growth beyond pre-fire levels that could occur in the longer term would be consistent with the Town of Paradise 2022-2030 Housing Element Update. This growth would be limited by the current boundaries of the Town and the capacity of the Proposed Project infrastructure. In either case, implementation of the Proposed Project would not, in and of itself, cause the growth, but it would accommodate regrowth, eliminating an obstacle to planned growth within the Town.

The Town remains committed to providing affordable sewer service to businesses and residents. Design and construction costs for the project’s initial phase are being fully funded by public grants. A rate analysis is underway to evaluate funding and project scope scenarios and ensure rates remain affordable for users. The Town is also pursuing grant funding and other external resources to reduce future costs for sewer service customers and maintain its commitment to affordability including future consideration of Town subsidies of Operations & Maintenance Costs as the system grows. 

Property owners in Paradise who do not receive sewer service, either because they are outside the SSA or choose not to connect within the service area, will not pay sewer taxes or fees associated with sewer service.  More information on connection fees and rates for those served by the project are still to be determined. 

Funding is secured for the project’s Phase 1 preliminary service area in the Historic Downtown District. That includes design, right-of-way procurement, and construction for the WWTF and Phase 1 Core Collection System, plus a little wiggle room for inflation.  

As of today, the Town has secured a total of nearly $127 million of grant funding for the project to apply to Phase 1, and continues to seek additional funding from a variety of sources. Funding sources to date have come from:  

• California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) 
  • $30.3 Million for design, planning and environmental analysis  
  • $94.9 Million for construction  
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Community Grant 
  • $1.75 Million 

The Town is working hard to look for additional grant funding to build the future phases and expansion of the Paradise Sewer Project. 

The Town is pursuing several potential funding sources to fund design, right-of-way efforts and construction of the future phases and expansion of the Paradise Sewer Project including: 

• Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), Small Community Wastewater Funds  
• A state appropriation (working in conjunction with the Town and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board) 
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 

Construction for Phase 1 is currently estimated to begin in 2028-2029.

The Progressive Design Build contract was terminated per direction from Town Council in August 2025. The design of the collection system and WWTF will continue under a design-bid-build approach that is appropriate for the smaller project scope to encourage competitive construction bids.

If the project is approved, contract documents for construction of the Collection System will have limitations on the length of open trench allowed adjacent to businesses to limit disruptions. Other construction alternatives to limit disruption (e.g., night work, trenchless construction) will be considered and evaluated during the design phase.