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Ensuring a Safe, Resilient Water System for Generations


Access to clean water is vital to our community. EWEB is hard at work making sure safe, reliable water continues to flow even as critical infrastructure ages and new challenges arise.

In the next decade, we plan to construct new water storage facilities near 40th Ave. and Patterson St. and replace the water storage systems at EWEB's College Hill and Hawkins Hill sites. The projects will be built to seismic and contemporary operating standards, providing more than 40 million gallons of resilient, safe water storage.

These are once-in-a-lifetime improvements that will provide safe drinking water to generations of Eugene residents.

While a safe, resilient water system benefits all customers, facility construction will have direct impacts on surrounding neighbors. As a public utility, we are committed to careful planning, responsible use of public funds, and meaningful customer engagement. This page will be updated throughout the course of the projects and will include information about how you can stay informed and involved. 

Six Things You Should Know


1. Eugene residents rely on 55 million gallons of drinking water stored at three locations: Santa Clara, College Hill, and Hawkins Hill. These storage facilities are the backbone of our water system that serves 200,000 people—for everyday use, public health, fire suppression, and in drought and other emergencies.

2. The backbone water storage facilities must be replaced. The aging tanks do not meet modern seisimic standards and would not survive a major earthquake. State authorities have ordered timely replacement of College Hill. 

3. To supplement EWEB's existing storage, new tanks are being installed on an undeveloped site near 40th Avenue. EWEB acquired the 10-acre site in the 1950s for this specific purpose. This 15 million gallons of storage makes it possible to first decommission, then replace other vulnerable facilities. 

4. When improvements are completed, six smaller water storage tanks will replace the existing large tanks. This distributed approach improves water quality, operational and maintenance flexibility and increases our resiliency to potentially disruptive events.

5. After construction, the sites will remain in public use. Although the new tank structures will be fenced to protect drinking water, unused portions of the sites will be open to public access. 

6. Construction Mitigation Plans will be developed to minimize impacts on neighbors. The water storage sites are surrounded by residences that could be impacted during construction. EWEB and our contractors will work closely with neighbors to anticipate, mitigate and address potential impacts from noise, vibration, dust, erosion, construction traffic, and other aspects.

In addition to strengthening our base-level water storage, EWEB is planning for a new water treatment plant and river intake on the Willamette River, building new transmission mains, developing emergency water stations, and restoring and protecting the McKenzie watershed. These source-to-tap drinking water programs are helping keep our water systems prepared and adaptable to future changes.


Improving resilience
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Learn how new water storage facilities will better withstand natural disasters and protect public health.

E. 40th Water Storage Project
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We are building two new 7.5 million gallon earthquake-proof tanks on an undeveloped 10-acre site.

College Hill
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EWEB will dismantle the leaky and antiquated reservoir and replace it in the next few years with new, modern drinking water storage tanks built to withstand major earthquakes. 

Hawkins Hill
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The existing 20 million gallon tank will be replaced by two new, 7.5 MG tanks.


  • Water Reliability Projects

    We're working to ensure safe, reliable water continues to flow in our community.

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Protecting the McKenzie
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Protecting the McKenzie River Watershed helps to ensure excellent drinking water quality for customers and residents today and into the future.

Your drinking water
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Access to clean water is vital to our community. That is why we work hard to deliver water that meets or exceeds all state and federal health standards.

Electric reliability projects
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EWEB's 10-year Capital Improvement Plan for major infrastructure investments to rehabilitate, replace, and install new infrastructure will ensure we meet the current and future needs of our community, while maintaining reliable service.