
Electric Outage: 1-844-484-2300
Water Emergency: 541-685-7595
EWEB Main: 541-685-7000
EWEB customers use more than twice as much water in the hot, dry summer months, compared to the cold, rainy winter months. The higher summer water use can almost assuredly be attributed to customers watering their lawns and gardens.
Find Out MoreEWEB is already in compliance with a new proposed federal rule that would require municipalities to test for PFAs, or forever chemicals, in drinking water. The good news for EWEB customers is that in over ten years of testing we have not found PFAs in our water.
Find Out MoreThe EWEB Board of Commissioners meet on the first Tuesday of the month.
Find Out MoreTo maintain the reliability customers have come to know and trust, EWEB must address an aging infrastructure bubble.
Find Out MoreEWEB General Manager Frank Lawson delivered his annual State of the Utility Address at the March 7 public Board of Commissioners meeting.
Find Out MoreGreenpower Grants, a program funded by voluntary Greenpower customer subscriptions is currently accepting applications. The grant will fund a high-impact project that increase the use of renewable energy sources, the adoption of emerging technologies, clean energy education and reduce or offset our community's carbon footprint.
Find Out MoreEugene is one of the largest cities on the west coast with only a single source of drinking water, the McKenzie River. And though the McKenzie is a pure, reliable water source, EWEB will secure a second source ensure resiliency in the future, planning to build a water treatment plant on the Willamette River, upstream of Eugene and Springfield.
Find Out MoreFor the past year, EWEB’s electric division has been preparing for a complete reconstruction of the Currin substation. Quite simply, it’s reached the end of its useful life.
Find Out MoreEWEB is building two 7.5-million-gallon water storage tanks on a 10-acre property at East 40th and Patterson Street in South Eugene. The tanks are part of our work to improve EWEB’s water storage infrastructure for future resiliency to earthquakes and climate change. People who live nearby have been watching the progress of the work since summer 2021.
Find Out MoreEWEB has awarded nearly $125,000 in grant funds to local organizations that promote electric mobility and reduce community carbon emissions.
Find Out MoreGrantees in the McKenzie River Valley can receive up to $35,000 each
Find Out MoreCollaborating with the City of Eugene, a Climate Guidebook, and priorities for upriver EWEB customers were the main topics at the Feb. 7 Board of Commissioners meeting. The five-member Board serves without pay and is elected by EWEB customers. Their job is to establish policies and values and set EWEB’s long-term direction. Board meetings are open to the public and include opportunities for public comment.
Find Out MoreYou may have noticed a plaque along the sidewalk on East 4th Avenue near the entrance to the employee parking lot at EWEB’s former headquarters building. It commemorates Wiley Griffon. He’s not considered the first Black resident of Eugene. But he is the first one mentioned by name, according to scholars.
Find Out MoreWorld Pulses Day is celebrated on February 10, and is a day to celebrate and spread information on the environmental and personal health benefits of pulses, aka beans, peas and lentils.
Find Out MoreEugene has some of the best drinking water in the world. That’s thanks to our source, the pristine McKenzie River. It’s also thanks to the people at EWEB; whether an engineer designing a new reservoir, a treatment plant operator ensuring the safety and quality of drinking water, or a member of a crew maintaining the infrastructure in our community, water professionals work around the clock to ensure tap water is there when you need it.
Find Out MoreMay 14, 2021
EWEB Generation staff on May 13 started diverting less water into the Walterville Power Canal to increase McKenzie River flows in the bypassed reach of the river to improve fish migration and water quality.
Under our federal operating license, the Walterville hydroelectric project is allowed to divert up to 2,577 cubic feet per second (cfs) into the canal during normal operations. The license requires us to maintain minimum instream flows of 1,000 cfs in the bypassed reach of the McKenzie at all times. We typically try to keep instream flows at around 1,200 cfs.
However, in 2018 we made an operational decision to voluntarily adjust the flow going into the Walterville Canal during low flow years in order to maintain 10% more flow in the river than the canal from June through October. Maintaining more flow in the river than in the canal improves fish migration and enhances water quality and recreational use during the summer months.
With the unseasonably warm and dry conditions this spring, and with adult salmon already present in the McKenzie River, staff made the decision to keep more water in the river immediately. We originally planned to begin diverting less water to the canal on May 20 due to the low flows.
"We decided to put more water in the bypassed reach of the McKenzie River at this time because we are hearing anecdotally that adult Spring Chinook are showing up a bit earlier than usual," said EWEB Generation Manager Lisa Krentz. "This will have a minor financial impact, but with the low river conditions we're experiencing, we felt it was the right decision."
On the morning of May 13, the power canal was running at about 1,700 cfs, and the bypassed reach of the McKenzie was flowing at about 1,200 cfs. By the morning of May 14, the bypass reach was running at approximately 1,700 cfs and the canal at 1,200 cfs.
This is the third year EWEB has voluntarily decreased diversion into the canal to maintain an additional 10% more flow in the river. This "low-flow" operation will continue through October.
The Walterville powerhouse, located off Camp Creek Road northeast of Springfield, can generate about 8 megawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 4,000 homes or roughly equal to about 3% of Eugene's average daily consumption of electricity.
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Mailing Address: 4200 Roosevelt Blvd., Eugene, OR 97402
Phone: 541-685-7000
Toll free: 800-841-5871
Email: eweb.answers@eweb.org
Customer service phone hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday