Innovative Strategies Position a Small City to Secure $0.5 B in Low-Interest Loans

The Cities of San Mateo and Foster City are implementing a significant capital infrastructure improvement program (~$1 billion CapEx over a 10-year period) to repair, replace, and upgrade aging sewage conveyance and wastewater treatment infrastructure to meet current and future regulatory requirements. The wastewater system serves ~170,000 residents. The City of San Mateo (City) is the majority owner of jointly-owned infrastructure between the two cities. The City faces significant challenges implementing a large capital improvement program, with a fixed short-term compliance period (between 5-10 years), and a small ratepayer population pool. The City's strategy for implementation focused on three main areas: innovative technology; strong financial security and funding approaches; and, most importantly, support from City residents and ratepayers. The City decided to implement the portfolio of projects with a programmatic approach; centralizing the resources to successfully address the three main areas. The Clean Water Program (CWP) is the nearly billion-dollar capital improvement program to address and optimize the City's infrastructure needs. This paper describes the City's successful strategies that other communities throughout North America could use in financing substantial wastewater infrastructure programs.