 Hi, I’m Rachael McDonald with the EWEB Communications Team.
Happy May! Drinking Water Week is coming up May 7-13! We have a lot to celebrate and be proud of when we talk about EWEB’s water. Today, we released our 2022 Consumer Confidence Report and, once again, EWEB drinking water meets federal and state health standards. You can get more details in this newsletter and learn how we are investing in safe, resilient drinking water.
Plus, we’ve got another quiz question for you (hint: the answer is in one of our news articles!) Enjoy!
Please let us know what you think! Email publicaffairs@eweb.org.
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We are the people in your neighborhood!
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EWEB's Jeremy Somogye leads students from Elkton School District on a tour of the Leaburg Hydroelectric project. Photo: Adam Spencer, EWEB Communications
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Another "outstanding" ranking for EWEB's water
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Good news for Eugene residents: your drinking water once again met safety standards for every type of contaminant regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Oregon Health Authority.
EWEB has never failed to meet the standards.
Learn more about EWEB’s drinking water and find a link to the 2022 Consumer Confidence Report issued today.
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Trivia time!
How much drinking water does EWEB produce in a day?
A) More than 3 million gallons.
B) More than 23 million gallons.
C) More than 100 million gallons.
D) More than 15 million gallons.
Keep reading to find out if you got the right answer!
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What's happening at your community-owned utility?
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 Coming soon: New water storage in College Hill neighborhood
Aging infrastructure and natural disasters are significant threats to our community's drinking water systems. After serving Eugene for over 80 years, the leaky and antiquated College Hill Reservoir will be replaced in the next few years with new, modern drinking water storage tanks built to withstand major earthquakes. Construction could begin as early as 2024. EWEB to replace aging College Hill Reservoir | EWEB
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 McKenzie River water quality remains excellent
Monitoring and prevention efforts have paid off in protecting the health of the McKenzie River watershed since the Holiday Farm Fire devastated the region in 2020, according to EWEB's annual State of the Watershed Report. Water quality on the McKenzie remains excellent in 2022, the report found. Read more about the State of the Watershed Report.
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 Work continues on water storage project near E. 40th Ave
Before EWEB can take College Hill Reservoir out of service, we need replacement water storage. The massive construction project near E. 40th Ave that began in 2021 is on-schedule and on-budget. Crews are now wire-wrapping the new 7.5 million-gallon water thanks and covering them in another layer of concrete. The cables are high-strength, galvanized 7-strand wire that bond to multiple layers of concrete, making the tanks resilient to major earthquakes. More than 90 miles of wire will be applied to the two tanks! Watch as crews wrap tanks with galvanized 7-strand wire.
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 Planning for a second drinking water source
Of the 20 largest cities in the Northwest, Eugene is the only one with a single source of drinking water. While the McKenzie River will continue to be Eugene's primary water source, EWEB is in the early stages of developing an additional water supply on the Willamette River. This is an important next step to ensure we can provide drinking water in case an emergency impacts the Hayden Bridge Filtration Plant or McKenzie River supply. EWEB pursues second water treatment plant to ensure resiliency | EWEB
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 Find your nearest emergency water station
Just as your household invests in an emergency kit, EWEB is making investments to prepare, replace and maintain our community's water system. We are working with community partners to develop an emergency water supply program that includes several permanent distribution sites located throughout the community using groundwater wells, as well as mobile water trailers. As of September 2022, five sites are operational and two additional sites are planned.
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Board of Commissioners meetings and topics
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EWEB is owned by our customers, who elect a five-member Board of Commissioners. At their next public meeting on May 2, Commissioners will:
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Hear an update on the planning work to decommission the Leaburg hydroelectric project
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Review EWEB's 10-year Strategic Plan
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Review EWEB's first quarter financial and performance results
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Approve contracts for infrastructure and maintenance projects, major equipment purchases and other contracted services.
You can view the full agenda for the May 2 meeting here, and learn how to watch online, attend in person, and provide public comments here.
Read a re-cap of last month's board meeting (2-minute read).
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Rebates, savings and other programs
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Efficiency & conservation tip of the month
As temperatures rise and clouds give way to sunny skies, EWEB is prepared to continue providing you with quality drinking water. But customers use water for more than just drinking. In the warmer months, EWEB customers use more than twice as much water compared to the cold, rainy winter months, primarily for watering lawns and gardens.
As we prepare to enter the warmer, drier months of the year, now is a good time to think about how you can conserve water, particularly when it comes to yard maintenance. Check out our article on seasonal water usage and get tips on reducing your water usage. Don't forget to sign-up for weekly watering recommendations and receive your first recommendation in late May/early June.
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EWEB awards $50,000 Greenpower Grant and now accepting applications for $25,000 Electric Mobility Community Grants.
 On Earth Day, EWEB announced the recipient of the 2023 Greenpower Grant: Friends of Trees! The Greenpower Grant winner is selected by current Greenpower subscribers, and 25% of votes went to Friends of Trees. This is the third time Friends of Trees has won the grant.
The local non-profit will use the grant to expand their tree planting efforts to all areas of Eugene, identifying areas where there is low canopy cover, low income and high community diversity.
Also on Earth Day, EWEB announced the opening of our next Electric Mobility Community Grants. Five $25,000 grants will be awarded to non-profits, academic institutions, or public organizations to put towards their electric mobility projects. Special consideration will be given to projects that advance electric mobility in underserved communities, including areas without ample access to public charging. Learn more about the Electric Mobility Community Grants and how to apply here.
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April 18 was National Lineman Appreciation Day! Line workers play a critical role in maintaining and repairing our electrical infrastructure. We visited with a few members of EWEB's line crew to celebrate and honor the hard work, innovation and dedication of electrical line workers.
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Join our team!
A healthy workplace, competitive pay and comprehensive benefits make EWEB a great place to work. We're looking for talented people to bring new ideas and fresh thinking to our team.
 Featured Job: Cyber Security Specialist I, II, or Senior
Keeping our community’s electricity and drinking water infrastructure safe from cyber threats is critical, meaningful work. We are seeking a skilled professional experience analyzing and developing information security governance. This position will provide application, monitoring and analysis support/oversite for cyber security in addition to maintaining health and stability of security-related systems and devices. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills and will start at a level commensurate with their education and experience.
Check out this and other job openings.
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Preparing for emergencies
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Events like wildfire, earthquake or even a really bad winter storm can impact the electric and water systems and other public services we all rely on. In a severe emergency, some services could be disrupted for weeks or even months.
Preparedness is a shared responsibility. We're making investments to prepare, replace and maintain our community's electric and water systems. You can do your part by following Oregon Office of Emergency Management's recommendation to build a kit and make a plan to be without public services for two weeks.
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Be Prepared: Have water on hand in the event of an emergency
Following a disaster, clean drinking water may not be available, which is why experts recommend storing 14 gallons of water per person in your household (enough for two weeks).
Here are some water storage and treatment tips:
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Store water in a number of different locations such as under the sink, in the garage, a storage shed, or closet.
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Purchase bottled water from the store, or buy and fill your own containers.
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It's safe to store water in cleaned and disinfected soda bottles, but do not use milk or juice containers for water storage.
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Know how to treat water if necessary. Both the EPA and CDC recommend boiling or chlorinating emergency water before use.
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Stored water should be replaced every six months
Learn more about how to disinfect emergency drinking water.
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Your monthly Pledge to Prepare Checklist
Pledge to Prepare is a 12-month blueprint to get you and your household two weeks ready in case of large emergency outage.
In May, continue to build on food and water supplies you gathered in previous months. You'll also practice a fire and earthquake drill and learn how to shut off your utilities. Did you know that fire is the most common hazard after an earthquake? Download the full May Checklist.
Share a photo of your progress to be entered to win the monthly raffle.
Join Pledge to Prepare
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Deep dives for fellow utility nerds :-)
How electrification became a major tool for fighting climate change.
To fight climate change, we will need to stop using fossil fuels to power our homes, cars factories and much else. We'll need to replace those fossil fuels with electricity that emits zero or low carbon emissions. How do we get there?
Read more from The New York Times.
Chart EV sales on pace to break 1 million in US this year
Growth in the electric vehicle (EV) sector is surging, with nearly 1 million EVs sold in 2022, the highest ever. But EVs still only make up less than 10% of all car sales. This could soon change as California, Oregon and other states mandate zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.
Read more from Canary Media.
Tainted, brown drinking water grips a Southern Oregon town
For Lakeview’s 2,500 residents, smelly brown drinking water has become the norm — at least, for now. Many people have gallons of spring water shipped to them, or pay for expensive home filtration systems.
Read or listen on OPB
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Trivia answer:
How much drinking water does EWEB produce in a day?
If you guessed option B, more than 23 million gallons, you got it!
You can find more about EWEB's water and our just-released Consumer Confidence Report here.
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