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Medford and Gold Hill have been confronted recently with how to alleviate their worries and their strife over attending to one of life’s bare necessities.

Medford City Council wisely — if somewhat painfully — has plunged ahead with a long-needed upgrade to the regional wastewater treatment plant that will cost the city, and its taxpayers, upwards of $300 million.

The situation in Gold Hill, meanwhile, can’t be fixed by council decree. It will be up to the voters in the Aug. 22 special election to decide whether the city will annex into the Rogue Valley Sewer Services district.

It will be a tough pill to swallow for the independent-minded residents of Gold Hill, who have seen the city’s own, out-of-date treatment plant be out of compliance with state and federal regulations for more than a decade — but it’s one that makes logical and financial sense for the community.

Annexation would increase sewer bills to $120 from the current $78 for as much as four years. Replacing its current plant, meanwhile, could mean more than tripling sewer bills.

“I believe the city would go bankrupt if it has to build and run a new treatment plant,” said Gold Hill City Council member Melia Biedschied.

The push for annexation, which will include construction of an eight-mile pipeline to send the city’s wastewater to the Medford Regional Water Reclamation Facility, represents a reversal for the City Council — a change brought about when councilors learned the cost of rebuilding Gold Hill’s 40-year-old facility.

“The city has an annual budget of around $2 million,” Biedschied said, “and the bid we received to manage the new, proposed plant was $1 million a year. That is not sustainable.”

Doing nothing is not an option at this stage, public officials said. Along with being out of compliance, the potential for continued ecological damage to the Rogue River from effluent would have to be eliminated.

“I really hope our residents read all the facts,” said Mayor Ron Palmer, “and realize that, if they don’t take this, we’re sunk.”

Medford didn’t want to risk finding itself in such an untenable position and, despite some price-tag hesitancy, decided to go ahead with the upgrade to its plant through obtaining $300 million in bonds.

Not only will the upgrades handle environmental risks to the river that have found the city at odds with state and federal regulations, but the project takes into account inflation and projected population increases in the region by the timeline for its completion in 2028.

Valley residents will see the cost in an increase in their sewer rates which, over an eight-year span, will more than double to $32 a month.

John Vial, the city’s public works director, acknowledged to the City Council that the cost of the project was “an enormous request,” but recommended approval for the full boat of the costs.

As with the case in Gold Hill, doing nothing would only exacerbate current problems — while leaving the city, and its officials, open to ramifications ranging from a state building moratorium to criminal penalties.

There’s nothing fancy about the treatment of wastewater. It doesn’t get promotional prominence on city brochures. But it must be accounted for, even when financially painful.

Medford has taken the proper steps. It remains to be seen whether Gold Hill voters understand the necessity.