
Electric Outage: 1-844-484-2300
Water Emergency: 541-685-7595
EWEB Main: 541-685-7000
Using fireworks near power lines could lead to a fire, explosion, power outage or downed line.
Find Out MoreEWEB will continue the annual closure of our College Hill Reservoir over the Fourth of July holiday and prohibit fireworks on the property grounds.
Find Out MoreOn June 18, with the help of community neighbors, EWEB inaugurated a new emergency water station at the Lane County Fairgrounds.
Find Out MoreAs a public utility, it is important EWEB check in with customers to see how we are performing. We invite you to share your feedback and opinions.
Find Out MoreStarting late night Sunday night, an intense windstorm blew over trees and caused just over 2,600 Eugene Water & Electric Board customers to lose power. But EWEB line crews working through the dark hours of the night and early morning promptly restored service for nearly all those customers.
Find Out MoreTwo Eugene Water & Electric Board line crews will spend the New Year holiday weekend through next week restoring power to thousands of Pacific Gas & Electric customers in northeast California after winter storms dumped more than 10 feet of snow in the Lake Tahoe area starting before Christmas.
Find Out MoreSeveral hundred customers have been restored, but the smaller outages with five or fewer customers may not be restored until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Find Out MoreWith the National Weather Service predicting snow for the Eugene area Sunday through Tuesday, we want to remind customers that the expected snow could bring trees and branches down onto overhead power lines and cause electric outages.
Find Out MoreJust as high winds with gusts of more than 30 mph arrived in the Oregon Cascades early Thursday, EWEB has completed aerial trimming around its Carmen-Smith transmission line using a helicopter with saw attachments to trim branches and treetops.
Find Out MoreEWEB Leads "Spill Drill" to test HazMat Response
Find Out MoreHave you ever thought about where your drinking water comes from? What about where your wastewater goes?
Find Out MoreWhile most wildfires are started by lightning strikes or caused by human actions, utilities have a role to play in risk reduction -- and we are doing our part. And while we can’t stop wildfires, we can make our electric infrastructure more resilient to better withstand fires by using new construction methods and materials and keeping our system maintenance up to date by replacing aging equipment.
Find Out MoreAt EWEB, we factor climate change into almost everything we do. As Eugene’s publicly-owned utility, we strive to fulfill our roles reducing our community’s carbon footprint, optimizing our use of clean energy, and helping our watershed adapt to a warmer climate.
Find Out MoreIdeas for supplying and cooking during an emergency outage
Find Out MoreThe security of the community's water supply is tied directly to the health of the McKenzie Watershed and EWEB is investing in the long-term health and quality of life for residents for generations to come.
Find Out MoreThe recent crisis at Oroville Dam in California has raised concerns about dam safety across the country. Just north of Sacramento, the Oroville Dam is the tallest dam in the United States (770 feet high) and is a critical piece of California's water supply system.
In February, after record rainfall filled Oroville Reservoir to more than 100 percent of normal capacity, a gaping hole appeared in the dam's main spillway. As the damage worsened, operators began releasing water over the emergency spillway for the first time in the reservoir's history. Parts of the earthen spillway quickly eroded, threatening to undermine a key concrete slab holding water in the reservoir. Fearing a dam breach, authorities ordered more than 180,000 people downstream to evacuate.
Could this happen to any of EWEB's dams?
Dams are some of the most important infrastructure facilities we manage. EWEB owns and operates six dams on the McKenzie River as part of our hydroelectric power generation system: Carmen Diversion, Smith, Trail Bridge, Leaburg, Leaburg Canal, and Walterville Canal. These dams are an important part of our commitment to delivering reliable, cost-effective and renewable power to local homes and businesses.
Dam safety is a very high priority at EWEB and events like Oroville are a good reminder that we can't take our dams for granted. Lucky for us, all of EWEB's spillways are constructed on bedrock, so the type of damage seen at Oroville is unlikely to happen here. While our dams are safe and well-maintained, there are risks associated with all dams. We can never eliminate all risks, but we can take proactive steps to identify and minimize risk.
Here's how we keep EWEB dams safe:
Monitoring and compliance
All of our dams meet current engineering standards and are in compliance with state and federal regulations. Federal and state regulators work with our staff to perform annual inspections to ensure safe operating conditions. The Leaburg Dam and Canal will undergo annual inspection and maintenance starting on March 25, followed by similar inspections and maintenance activities at the Walterville project in June.
Inspection
Operators, engineers and surveyors inspect hydro facilities weekly, monthly, semi-annually and annually. That's over 50 inspections each year.
Maintenance
A good maintenance program will protect a dam against deterioration and prolong its life. Our generation staff and contractors routinely repair concrete, re-seal leaky canals, ensure proper drainage and maintain operating systems at the most highest industry standards.
Training
Our staff receives routine training on dam operations, safety and emergency response.
Emergency planning
We maintain Emergency Action Plans to protect the residents and property in the McKenzie River Valley in the unlikely event of a dam or canal breach. Every five years, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires EWEB to test emergency action plans for the Carmen-Smith and Leaburg-Walterville hydroelectric projects. We coordinate closely with emergency management authorities, such as Central Lane 911, on notification and communication procedures, including pre-planned mass communications in the event of a dam emergency.
How to report a problem
If you notice anything out of the ordinary on any EWEB canal, reservoir or dam, please call our main number 541-685-7000 and ask to speak with EWEB's Generation Engineering Supervisor. After hours, contact the Leaburg Dam Duty Operator at 541-852-1906.
4200 Roosevelt Blvd.
Eugene, OR 97402
800-841-5871
541-685-7000
Open Monday-Friday
Phone hours: 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.