Desert Hot Springs maps $87m sewer route for Palm Drive growth
Mission Springs Water District, California · Meeting date: October 19, 2026 · Published: October 20, 2026
A city-commissioned feasibility study has identified major sewer expansion needs across the Palm Drive corridor, including new collection, transmission and wastewater-treatment capacity. Mission Springs Water District said its Nancy Wright Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility may be able to accommodate added flows through process changes, although the study remains at the planning stage.
Key points
- The study estimates $35 million of works for the central zone and $52 million for the southern zone, excluding new infrastructure in the already sewered northern zone.
- Build-out analysis estimates additional average dry-weather flows of about 0.5mgd in the north, 1.4mgd in the central zone and 1.5mgd in the south.
- The central zone would need a Palm Drive collection pipeline, possible Dos Palmas lift-station capacity upgrades and additional treatment capacity at Nancy Wright.
- The south zone would require new collection and transmission infrastructure, with 18th Avenue identified as the preferred transmission alignment to Little Morongo Road.
- City staff said the plan is not an attempt to take over sewer service; it is intended to identify infrastructure needs and potential funding mechanisms for infill development.
Full report
Desert Hot Springs has identified up to $87 million of sewer infrastructure needed to support planned infill development along its downtown and Palm Drive corridor, placing a substantial future capacity requirement on Mission Springs Water District's wastewater system.
The city presented its Downtown Area and Palm Drive Corridor Infill Development Sewer Implementation Plan to the Mission Springs board on 19 October. The feasibility study, funded through the Southern California Association of Governments' Regional Early Action Planning grant and its Regional Utilities Support Housing pilot programme, assesses the infrastructure required to enable housing and other development rather than proposing a transfer of sewer service to the city.
Deputy City Manager and City Engineer Danny Porras said the work was driven by the city's economic-development and housing objectives, with infrastructure identified as a principal barrier. “In no way was city trying to take over sewer,” he told the board. “We were identifying what needs we had for sewer to bring in infill down Palm Drive Corridor or even in our downtown area.”
The study divides the corridor, which extends from Eighth Street to 20th Avenue, into three sewer zones based on their relationship to existing infrastructure. The northern zone is already sewered and would add customers through existing stub-outs, with flows directed to the Horton plant. The study estimates roughly 0.5mgd of additional average dry-weather flow at full build-out.
The central zone currently lacks Palm Drive sewer infrastructure. It would require a new collection pipeline, potentially added capacity at the Dos Palmas lift station, and further treatment capacity at the Nancy Wright Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility. Its build-out flow is estimated at about 1.4mgd.
The southern zone has virtually no existing sewer infrastructure and is the largest proposed expansion. The study estimates 1.5mgd of added average dry-weather flow, requiring new collection and transmission facilities as well as additional treatment capacity. It identifies 18th Avenue as the preferred route for a transmission line from the Palm Drive and 20th Avenue area to Little Morongo Road, where flows could continue by gravity to Nancy Wright.
Engineering Resources of Southern California estimated the central-zone works at $35 million and the southern-zone works at $52 million. The plan also identifies federal, state and other funding opportunities, and recommends a multi-jurisdictional coalition to assemble a financing package. The consultant said development of the central and southern zones could proceed independently because they connect to the existing system at different points.
Mission Springs General Manager Brian Macy welcomed the city's recognition of the district as the wastewater provider. He said the projected increase of roughly 1.5mgd to 3mgd could potentially be accommodated at Nancy Wright by changing the sequential batch reactors to membrane treatment, reflecting the original configuration of the system. He cautioned that costs would depend in part on how long expansion takes to advance.
The consultant also acknowledged the need to reconcile service-area issues because the study area crosses Mission Springs and Coachella Valley Water District boundaries. The city said it will take comments received on the study forward for adoption.
This summary was generated by AI based on the source document and may contain errors.
Source: Board of Directors Regular Meeting, Mission Springs Water District