E. 40th Water Storage Project FAQs

A: Two tanks, totaling 15 million gallons (MG) of storage, are necessary to replace the storage that will be lost when the 15 MG College Hill Reservoir is taken out-of-service in 2023.

Because the E. 40th tanks will be part of the gravity-fed base-level storage system serving the bulk of Eugene, they must be constructed at a very specific overflow elevation--607 feet above sea level to be exact.  EWEB had the foresight to purchase this property more than 70 years ago for future water storage because it meets the elevation criteria for connecting to the base level storage system. Other engineering and construction constraints include:

• The tanks must be located east of about Chambers St. to maintain water service into the south hills
• The site must accommodate two 7.5 million-gallon, 212-foot diameter tanks
• The tanks must connect via transmission main to the water delivery system

In a nutshell, putting the storage tanks at a different site is not an option and we need to construct here at this time to replace aging infrastructure in other parts of town.

A: Providing accurate, timely and straightforward project information is critically important to us and we have actively engaged the community and area neighbors in our project plans in a variety of ways.

Although this project is not required to go through a formal land-use process, EWEB has voluntarily presented information and discussed this project in multiple public board meetings over the past two years, listened to public testimony, discussed the project in quarterly reports, developed a dedicated webpage for the project, published articles in neighborhood newsletters, delivered emails and mailings and held virtual and in-person meetings with the neighbors most impacted by this project.

Public communications are posted on the project website.

We are committed to providing timely and accurate information to our customers and encourage interested community members to join our water storage projects email list.

A: Unfortunately, no. Approximately 260 trees (25% of the total trees on the site) were within the construction footprint for the tanks and needed to be removed. 

A: The preliminary proposal called for constructing 15 million gallons (MG) in a phased approach over ten years. However, two events occurred that changed the direction:

• We learned through the final geotechnical investigation that constructing the tanks will require excavation through very hard rock using controlled drilling and blasting. This meant that the tree clearance and site preparation for construction of both tanks needed to happen at the same time, regardless of when the second tank is constructed.
  
  Major infrastructure projects often go through adjustments throughout the planning process, and this project is no different. We were careful to communicate with neighbors beginning in early 2020 that the preliminary design was not set in stone and that plans could change as we moved through preliminary to final design.

• The Holiday Farm Fire came close to threatening our Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant. This event underscored a need to enhance our community's water storage capability as quickly as possible.
  
  The preliminary plan to build one tank at E. 40th and then wait several years before building the second, would have reduced our storage capacity by 7.5 million gallons for several years beginning in 2023, once the College Hill Reservoir is taken offline. The final plan of constructing 15 million gallons in one phase (endorsed by the Board in April 2021) allows us to fully replace the lost College Hill storage and provides 15 million gallons of resilient water storage that meets seismic standards in the least amount of time.

A: As part of the planning process, we consulted with several professional ecological experts to determine the least impactful siting for the tanks, including DOWL Environmental, Jeff Krueger (Willamette Valley Oak & Prairie Cooperative), Dr. Bart Johnson (Landscape Architect & Ecology Profession at UO) and Ed Alverson (Natural Areas Coordinator for Lane County Parks), as well as City of Eugene Parks/Urban forestry staff.  Each of the professional ecologists emphasized the regional significance of the oak habitat on the site and the importance of preserving and managing it.

Based on this research, EWEB made the decision to situate the tanks in a way that would minimize impact to the oak habitat. The full Ecological Report from DOWL Environmental is published on the project website, which includes statements from the local egologists named above.

In addition, EWEB prepared a Triple Bottom Line assessment to understand the impacts of constructing both tanks concurrently, compared to the preliminary plan of constructing one tank in 2021, and a second tank in 2030. For both options, we assessed costs, duration of construction, total number of truck trips, impacts to Patterson St. traffic, and disruption to the site and to neighbors.

Looking at several criteria, we determined that building both tanks concurrently has some notable advantages:

• Provides 15 MG of secure water storage in the least amount of time (replacing College Hill)
• Saves approximately $1.4 million (2021 Net Present Value)
• Consolidates the work into a single disruptive period, avoiding a second round of neighborhood disruption
• Limits Patterson St. wear and tear and coincides with City of Eugene street repairs
• Results in 2,100 fewer truckloads, reducing noise, street damage, and carbon emissions