Potential Timeline Changes for College Hill Reservoir Replacement
After serving Eugene for over 80 years, College Hill has reached the end of its useful life. The reservoir does not meet current seismic standards and requires significant, expensive repairs to protect the drinking water inside. Citing contamination concerns from leaking roof joints, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is requiring EWEB to rehabilitate or decommission College Hill by the end of 2023.
EWEB had originally planned to build one 7.5 million-gallon (MG) tank at an undeveloped property near E. 40th Ave, then begin work at College Hill before returning to the E. 40th site to construct a second tank.
However, the Board’s decision to construct two tanks concurrently at E. 40th, providing 15 MG of secure, reliable water storage by 2024, means that EWEB will have an opportunity to rethink the timing for rebuilding at College Hill. Read more about the E.40th project here.
We still plan to take College Hill out of service by the end of 2023, per OHA requirement, pending completion of the replacement storage at East 40th. But EWEB has not yet determined a new demolition and construction schedule for the concrete tank.
We will keep you informed as we continue to assess and refine the construction plan for College Hill. Watch for communication later this year with updates on the public engagement timeline for both historic mitigation and landscape design.
A third water storage project is also in the capital plan—building two new 7.5 MG tanks at Hawkins Hill to replace the existing 20 MG tank built in the 1960s. These interrelated projects are part of a significant investment aimed at diversifying EWEB’s water storage system with additional, but smaller tanks, to enhance resiliency, water quality, and systems operations.
