WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) – The Williams City Council on March 18 declined a request from the Arbuckle Public Utility District to reduce the fee charged to process wastewater hauled into the city, opting to maintain the current rate despite acknowledging the district’s ongoing crisis.
District officials asked the city to lower the rate from 5 cents to 3 cents per gallon as Arbuckle struggles with aging infrastructure, recent wastewater spills and mounting hauling costs.
Although sympathetic to Arbuckle’s situation, Williams officials said the city could not absorb the reduced rate while covering the cost of operating its own system.
“It’s difficult to say that,” Mayor Kate Dunlap said. “As a city, we want to be good neighbors to the residents around us and the surrounding communities.”
Arbuckle Public Utility District General Manager Gary Felkins told the council the district’s wastewater system is under significant strain, with aging infrastructure and ongoing operational challenges driving up costs and limiting capacity.
Felkins said the district’s sewer ponds, some dating back to the 1950s, are no longer keeping up with demand, forcing emergency hauling and leaving the agency dependent on uncertain state funding.
“Last year we hauled almost 29 million gallons… it cost us $2.5 million,” Felkins said.
As the Pioneer Review previously reported, Arbuckle’s wastewater system has faced repeated spills since March 31, 2023, including a June 2025 incident that reached an adjacent orchard. State regulators issued a cleanup and abatement order requiring dredging, levee repairs and updated response plans.
To prevent further spills, the district began hauling wastewater to other facilities, first to Orland at higher cost, then to Williams, reducing expenses due to a quicker turnaround but not eliminating the financial strain.
“There’s no way we can tell people to stop using the sewer,” Felkins said.
Felkins said district officials are looking to the state to help fund long-term plans that call for replacing the existing system with a modern wastewater treatment facility capable of producing reuse water for irrigation if sufficient land can be acquired.
Without the state’s assistance, Felkins said Arbuckle residents could see rates increase from $28 to $300.
Even as they recognized the hardship, the Williams City Council voted unanimously to deny the request and keep the city’s intake rate in place, noting that Williams is already preparing to raise rates on its own residents.
The decision leaves Arbuckle continuing to outsource wastewater processing as it pursues grant funding and rate adjustments for long-term infrastructure improvements.