Lost Hills WWTF - Secondary Wastewater Treatment in Kern County, California

Lost Hills WWTF is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Kern County, California, United States. The plant serves a small community of approximately 600 residents, providing essential wastewater treatment services in this rural agricultural region. The facility operates at the secondary treatment level, which is the minimum standard required by the US Clean Water Act for municipal wastewater treatment. With a designed capacity of 757.08 cubic meters per day and an average discharge volume of 302.83 cubic meters per day, the plant has capacity to accommodate future growth. As a US facility, it operates under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, administered by the California State Water Resources Control Board. The treated effluent from Lost Hills WWTF is discharged to local surface waters, which ultimately drain into the Tulare Lake Basin, a historically significant watershed in California's Central Valley. This region supports agricultural irrigation and provides habitat for migratory birds and aquatic species. The plant's operations help protect downstream water quality in this ecologically sensitive area.

Lost Hills WWTF discharges into the Tulare Lake Basin, an endorheic basin in California's Central Valley that historically supported a large freshwater lake. Today, the basin is primarily agricultural, with seasonal wetlands that provide critical habitat for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds along the Pacific Flyway. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nutrient and pathogen loads, protecting these sensitive downstream ecosystems.