Case Study: City of Rialto secures funding and modernizes water & wastewater systems with Veolia North America

Innovative concession contract demonstrates an approach for other cities to strengthen their financial condition

The City of Rialto, serving about 100,000 residents, faced aging water and wastewater infrastructure and constrained finances. To secure better service and lower costs, the City of Rialto contracted Veolia North America—initially for wastewater O&M in 2003 and then as part of a 30‑year concession (2013) with Table Rock Capital—to provide operations, customer service, billing and collections, and to manage capital improvements.

Veolia North America operated the systems and ran the capital program under the concession, enabling a financing package (including a $35 million up‑front payment) that funded immediate repairs and upgrades. The deal produced an initial $7 million capital improvements program, roughly $2.5 million in operational savings over the first five years, and supported a later $300 million contract expansion and more than $40 million in capital repairs—while the City of Rialto retained ownership and used concession proceeds for economic development and job‑creating projects.

City of Rialto

Mike Story

Administrator