Utilities consider joint projects.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

A new report envisions the Eugene Water & Electric Board and Springfield Utility Board jointly building a water treatment plant on the McKenzie River and expanding SUB's existing plant on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River.

The long-term projects could provide EWEB a backup water source in case of an emergency, while providing SUB with a way to meet the water needs of a growing customer base. The plants would use water from existing but unused water rights owned by the utilities.

The report, titled "Two Rivers, Two Cities, Two Utilities," estimates that the capital projects would cost EWEB and SUB a combined $100 million - or $80 million less than if each utility took a "go it alone" approach. EWEB would save an estimated $50 million and SUB about $30 million.

"It's not a matter of two utilities becoming one - it's a matter of jointly participating in developing future assets," said Brad Taylor, EWEB's water resources and system planner.

Chuck Arrera, director of water engineering and operations at SUB, said the proposal is akin to the kind of watch-your-back arrangement embraced by neighboring fire departments. "The general idea of mutual aid implies that both sides could benefit from this," he said.

As envisioned, a treatment plant would be built downstream from EWEB's Hayden Bridge water treatment plant on the McKenzie - possibly near PeaceHealth's RiverBend hospital under construction.

SUB's existing treatment plant on the Willamette's North Fork would be expanded, using a membrane filtering technology rather than the slow sand process currently used there. The utilities would jointly own the new and expanded facilities.

EWEB would continue to rely on its Hayden Bridge plant for providing water to its customers on a daily basis, Taylor said. The Eugene utility would make use of the new plant or expanded Willamette River plant only in the case of an emergency - such as a major flood, chemical spill, dam failure or act of terrorism.

EWEB officials have long sought a second water source in case of an environmental or other disaster on the McKenzie. Poor pump test results have reduced hopes for securing substantial new water from groundwater wells near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, leaving an EWEB-SUB partnership as the most realistic and affordable option, Taylor said.

Unlike EWEB, SUB has multiple water sources, securing about 20 percent of its supply from the Middle Fork and 80 percent from a series of groundwater wells scattered throughout its jurisdiction.

EWEB has three water right claims on the McKenzie dating to 1925, 1946 and 1961, with the latter one not fully developed. After a multiyear process, SUB last year secured rights on the McKenzie from the Oregon Water Resources Department.

Taylor and Arrera say the utilities' cooperative approach emerged last year when they, along with the Rainbow Water District, approved a joint agreement allowing for water exchanges in an emergency. The districts are now exploring pipeline modifications needed to move water from one utility to another.

Similarly, the capital costs of a major treatment plants project would include adding large transmission mains capable of transporting emergency water. The cost to ratepayers is still an unknown; EWEB estimates it could increase a typical residential customer's bill $10 to $20 a month.

EWEB commissioners will get their first look at the report today, while SUB commissioners have not yet scheduled a date to review the proposal. At EWEB, officials must decide just how important it is to have a second source of water, and at what price tag.

"It's desirable, but it's not required," Taylor said of a second source. "The board will have to decide if the investment balances the risk."

WHAT'S NEXT

EWEB commissioners

will discuss the report today at 6:40 p.m. at

500 E. Fourth Ave., Eugene