Planning for a reliable water future
EWEB is updating its long-range Water System Master Plan (WSMP) to ensure our community has safe and reliable water for the future. This plan provides guidance for important upgrades over the next 20 years to prepare, replace and maintain the infrastructure that makes up our water system.
Why it matters:
- Reliability: Keeping our infrastructure up to date to ensure dependable drinking water service.
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Water Quality: Meeting and exceeding regulatory standards to provide safe drinking water for the community.
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Resilience: Strengthening our current system to prepare for future challenges, including seismic risks and climate impacts.
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Efficiency: Finding the most sustainable and energy-efficient ways to move water through the system.
Our water system at a glance
Since 1911, EWEB has provided quality drinking water to homes and businesses in and around Eugene. Our water supports the everyday health and vitality of more than 200,000 people in our community. We deliver drinking water through a vast network of infrastructure with a combined value of approximately $300 million.
Major Water System Infrastructure
Planning for the future
EWEB updates its WSMP every 10 years to address regulatory requirements, help plan for growth in our service territory and identify potential projects to improve the reliability of water service and water quality across the system.
Planning for the 2025 WSMP began in early 2024, with an anticipated adoption in early 2026.
The WSMP update will address:
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Water Supply and Demand: Reviewing future population growth and climate variability.
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Aging Infrastructure: Replacing and upgrading critical parts of the water system.
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Water Quality Protection: Continuing compliance with drinking water standards.
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Energy Efficiency & Sustainability: Maintaining operational efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Seismic Planning: Strengthening the system backbone over time to better withstand an earthquake.
Inside the Master Plan
In addition to regulatory requirements and levels of service, the planning process is also guided by top priorities of EWEB’s customer owners around water reliability, water quality and affordability.
Highlights of the planning process include:
Maintaining levels of service
EWEB’s project team is using hydraulic modeling to assess what upgrades may be needed to maintain reliable service for forecasted water needs. Water demands in our service territory have been stable over the last decade even with residential service connections growing by about 0.6 percent each year.
Operational efficiency analysis
A key part of the WSMP update is evaluating ways to enhance water quality by more efficiently moving water through our system. Our 2015 WSMP looked at ways to optimize the “lower-level” system. With the 2025 WSMP, we are now focusing on the “upper-level” system, including ways to potentially reduce electrical needs and long-term operational costs.
System resiliency planning
EWEB is continuing work to enhance the reliability and seismic resiliency of drinking water service for Eugene residents. As part of the WSMP update, the project team is identifying critical facilities capable of supplying key community needs — such as fire suppression, health and emergency response and community drinking water supply points — and prioritizing resiliency-related upgrades across a 50-year planning timeline.
Cost-effective investments
EWEB’s project team is using a software tool called Optimizer to help evaluate and identify which improvements will offer the greatest benefit and be most cost-effective. Optimizer can quickly review thousands of scenarios and combinations of pumping, storage and pipeline upgrades to help the project team identify projects that best balance water quality, hydraulic efficiency, and cost effectiveness.
Stay informed & get involved
Information about the 2025 WSMP update will be shared through this webpage and other customer communications, including EWEB’s Current Connections newsletter.
We invite you to share comments or ask questions about steps we’re taking to plan for the future of our drinking water by completing our short questionnaire.
If you’re interested in having our team present to your community group about long-term planning for our drinking water, please email us at PublicAffairs@eweb.org.
