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Water Storage Improvement Projects
Access to clean water is vital to our community.
EWEB is hard at work making sure safe, reliable water continues to flow even as critical infrastructure ages and new challenges arise. In the next decade, we plan to construct new water storage facilities near 40th Ave. and Donald St. and replace the water storage systems at EWEB's College Hill and Hawkins Hill sites. The projects will be built to seismic and contemporary operating standards, providing more than 40 million gallons of resilient, safe water storage.
Dear College Hill Neighbors
We recently received important news from the City of Eugene that helps to clarify the construction timeline for the College Hill project, and provides additional options for siting the new tank on the College Hill property.

The news from the City relates to the East 40th project. The City Planning Department determined that construction of public water storage at the East 40th site is an allowed use, and does not require Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval. While the project still needs to meet certain land use and development standards, the process is more straightforward and less time-consuming.

Why is this significant to College Hill?

1) It means construction at College Hill likely will not begin until mid-2023.

The City's decision enables EWEB to pursue our "preferred path" of building new storage at East 40th before College Hill, allowing us to delay construction at College Hill until mid-2023.

2) It allows the option to site the new College Hill tank within the footprint of the existing reservoir.

Prior to the City's decision, EWEB was facing the challenge of needing to start construction at College Hill while moving through a PUD process at East 40th. This would mean building a new tank on the site, carefully deconstructing half of the College Hill reservoir to make room for construction activities while leaving the other half of the College Hill reservoir in service to maintain water pressure throughout the system.  Recall that EWEB is under a state-mandated deadline to mitigate water quality issues at College Hill by 2023.

Constructing at East 40th before College Hill will provide the "replacement" storage needed to take the existing College Hill reservoir out-of-service, in its entirety, prior to building the new tank. This also potentially allows us to place the new tank largely within the existing footprint on the south side of the property.

Benefits of placing the new tank within the footprint of the existing reservoir include:

  • Significantly less groundwork and related construction impacts – the geotechnical report shows areas of very hard rock on the site and using the previously excavated area lessens the time and intensity of earthwork.
  • Maintains a viewshed for adjacent neighbors (particularly on the Lincoln St. side) similar to existing conditions.

In a nutshell, with the City's zone verification in-hand, our goal now is to complete the design and construction of one 7.5 MG tank at E. 40th Ave. and bring that facility online by mid-2023. We would then proceed with removing the existing reservoir at College Hill and constructing a new 7.5 MG tank at the College Hill site.

Here is high level summary of the major College Hill project milestones:

Remainder of 2020 – 2021:
  • Preliminary tank design and site layout
  • Historical review and public input process

2021 - 2022:
  • Detailed tank design - this is when final placement of the new tank will be determined
  • Landscape design and public input process

Mid-2023:
  • Remove existing reservoir
  • Begin earthwork, site prep and construction

Late-2025:
  • Complete construction, landscaping and fencing
What's next?
  • Work with Friendly Area Neighborhood Association to inform community members about the project goals, schedule, and public input opportunities.

  • Engineers will complete initial tank design and site layout.

  • Architectural renderings will be developed and shared with neighbors later this year, to show what the site will look like with the new tank in place and provide a foundation for public input on site uses and landscape designs.

  • EWEB is currently working with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and a consultant to ensure we follow recommendations for historically significant facilities. Part of this process includes a public meeting to share the findings and gather input on mitigation strategies that appropriately honor College Hill historic features and its role in our community.  

  • Public meetings will be scheduled this fall or winter (pending COVID-19 status) to begin collecting input on future site uses and landscape design, as well as ways that we can appropriately honor College Hill historic features and its role in our community. 
How to stay informed and involved
Contact the Project Team:
Call 541-685-7899
 
Project information and updates: eweb.org/waterstorage