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Topic Areas: Project Background & Alternatives | Water Quality | Project Cost & Timeline | About the New Plant | Why EWEB and SUB are Building Separate Plants | Related Projects
Project Background & Alternatives
Why is a second water source needed?
Eugene is one of the largest cities in the Pacific Northwest that relies on a single source of water, the McKenzie River. If something were to happen that shuts off our McKenzie drinking water supply, our community would have only about two to three days of stored water, which may not be enough in a major emergency. Having only one source of water also limits our ability to complete required inspections and maintenance on our aging sole treatment plant, Hayden Bridge.
Establishing a second source of water is critical for improving the reliability of our water system, especially following a disaster such as an earthquake, chemical spill or other incident that interrupts our primary McKenzie supply. Building a second plant will also enable critical maintenance and repair work at Hayden Bridge to extend its useful life.
Why is the Willamette River the best option for a second water source?
EWEB has been studying and planning for a second water source for decades. Technical investigations, capacity studies, and risk and reliability assessments confirm that the Willamette River is the best option to provide Eugene with a second source of drinking water. The Willamette has excellent water quality and adequate supply to provide the amount of water needed to meet demand if something were to happen to the McKenzie.
EWEB has established water rights to draw up to 19.4 million gallons of water per day from the Willamette. Building a treatment plant on the Willamette would allow EWEB to safeguard these water rights for the people of Eugene for generations to come. There are operational benefits and efficiencies as well, as a new water treatment plant and transmission main can be readily connected to existing infrastructure.
Why can’t we just build more storage in the system?
EWEB currently has approximately 2-3 days worth of storage in the water system at any given time. Adding more storage has the potential to create water quality issues. As water is stored, the chlorine concentration decreases. Chlorine is what protects human health in a drinking water system. The current storage system is right sized to provide a comfortable buffer of backup water for emergencies and fire suppression, while also facilitating efficient turnover for normal daily usage.
Why can’t our interties with Springfield meet our needs?
The Springfield Utility Board (SUB) and EWEB’s water systems are connected by multiple interties. These interties are closed during normal circumstances but can be opened to provide water during emergency situations.
While interties can provide some short-term relief, they are not currently configured to be a sustained backup solution. EWEB is working with SUB to optimize the intertie system as an additional resiliency measure.
Is the Willamette Treatment Plant being built to support new development like data centers?
No. EWEB has more than ample supply and treatment capacity on the McKenzie River to meet the city's water needs now and into the future. EWEB is building a second treatment plant to allow for critical maintenance at our existing treatment plant, Hayden Bridge, and to protect the community from extended water outages during disasters. Any narrative tying the plant to data centers is misinformation. Learn more.
Water Quality
Is the Willamette River water safe?
Safe drinking water is our top priority. Regular water quality testing at the Willamette intake site since April 2013 indicates that the water quality at the Willamette River location is similar to samples taken at the McKenzie River intake for EWEB’s Hayden Bridge Plant.
Will the water taste good?
As proposed, the new treatment plant would have robust treatment processes able to treat all anticipated raw water conditions in the Willamette both with respect to water quality and taste/odor to a level higher than the existing Hayden Bridge Treatment Plant drawing from the McKenzie River.
Will the McKenzie and Willamette water be blended?
The new plant is expected to operate daily to ensure its reliability and operation when needed. This would mean some amount of blending in the system.
Project Cost & Timeline
How much will the project cost?
EWEB is developing a detailed design for the plant to determine a firm cost. Although we are planning to fund the addition of a second source through capital reserves and revenue bonds, EWEB is actively investigating other sources of funding.
How will the project impact customer rates?
Long term rate impacts will be calculated once we have a firm cost for the project.
When will construction begin?
EWEB will develop a construction schedule for the second source project after the design of the plant and additional analyses are completed.
About the New Plant
Where would the plant be located?
Under the proposed plans, EWEB would draw water from the Willamette just below the confluence of the Coast Fork and the Middle Fork. The treatment plant would be located in Glenwood, between the Willamette River and I-5.
Would the plant be built to modern seismic standards?
Yes. The plant and the pipeline connecting it to the EWEB system would be built to modern seismic standards to withstand the impacts of a large earthquake or other natural disaster.
Why EWEB and the Springfield Utility Board (SUB) are Building Separate Plants
Why are EWEB and SUB both pursuing new drinking water treatment facilities?
Our region’s two largest water utilities share similar goals, including diversifying their water sources. That’s because multiple water sources are essential to protect Springfield and Eugene area homes and businesses from water service disruptions. EWEB plans to add the Willamette River as a new source for system resiliency. SUB proposes to add the McKenzie River to its current groundwater wells and surface water source, both to diversify its supply and to build capacity to meet an expected 48% increase in water demand over the next 50 years.
Have EWEB and SUB considered collaborating on a shared facility?
Yes – that was among the options considered. However, a shared facility would not fulfill the goal of diversifying water supply sources for both communities. To meet supply and resiliency needs, SUB is building its treatment facility on the McKenzie River. Since EWEB needs a source separate from the McKenzie River, it does not make sense to join SUB’s effort.
EWEB already has a drinking water treatment facility on the McKenzie and SUB already has one on the Middle Fork Willamette. Can’t they meet our communities’ future needs?
The existing facilities alone cannot fully meet future needs for Eugene or Springfield. Both were built before the risks of the Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake were fully known. While each utility has invested in upgrades, the existing facilities cannot be fully retrofitted to withstand a major earthquake. There are also broader system considerations, including future demand, operational flexibility, and the need for geographic redundancy, that make it impractical to rely on these facilities alone. The new treatment plants proposed by both utilities would be built to modern seismic standards, adding more capacity and two earthquake-ready facilities to the region, significantly increasing local resiliency.
Wouldn’t shared facilities be a better long-term option?
EWEB and SUB have been developing separate water systems since the cities they serve were founded. Each customer-owned utility delivers billions of gallons of water annually to thousands of service connections. EWEB and SUB both have hundreds of miles of pipes and many millions of gallons of storage. The two robust water systems operate independently and have fundamental differences – different water supply sources and different operating pressures – that would make combining operations complex and costly. Keeping the systems independent also strengthens resiliency by providing flexibility during emergencies.
How are EWEB and SUB working together to help ensure a resilient water supply if disruptions occur?
EWEB, SUB and Rainbow Water District have an agreement to maintain and improve existing interties that link their systems. Interties are piping connections that allow water to be shared on an emergency basis, but these connections are not big enough to meet normal customer demand. The three water utilities continue to work together on an intertie strategy and upgrades to address current limitations to sharing water.
Related Projects
What other work is EWEB doing to improve the resiliency of our water system?
A second source is just one of many investments EWEB is making in drinking water infrastructure. We are also strengthening our base-level water storage, building new transmission mains, developing emergency water stations, and restoring and protecting the McKenzie watershed.
Where can I find the nearest Emergency Water Station to my home?
Learn more about the Emergency Water Stations here.
