EWEB, SUB and Rainbow Water District have an agreement to develop and improve 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. Now, the three water utilities are teaming up on an intertie strategy and upgrades to address current limitations to sharing water.
McKenzie River Water Supply Project
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.