Questions?
Call us at 541-685-7607 or email LeadGreen@eweb.org.
As an EWEB customer, you’re already using clean, renewable energy and investing in McKenzie Watershed protection. But together we can do more.
Climate solutions require innovation. The Carbon Forest Lab is an opportunity to invest in local carbon forestry projects aimed at expanding our understanding of natural climate solutions and enhancing the McKenzie Watershed.
The project seeks to answer a few core questions:
- What kinds of plants and trees sequester the most carbon?
- How can we maximize carbon sequestration in the soil to ensure long term capture that is impervious to wildfire?
- What is the best planting method for long-term planting success?
- How do we balance the benefit of more trees with the risk of wildfire?
By helping answer these research questions, your investment of $6.50-$8.50 per month allows climate scientists to focus on the solutions needed to bring about transformational change.
To serve your better, we are upgrading our customer information and billing system, which has been in place since the 1990s and is ready for an upgrade.
As we prepare for this major update, some programs and features are temporarily unavailable – including our customer programs. We are temporarily pausing all new applications for customer rebates, loans and environmental programs. We will begin accepting new applications in early December when we have transitioned to our new systems.
We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. EWEB staff will still be available to answer all questions regarding our efficiency and water conservation programs during this period.
Learn more about our system upgrades and scheduled downtime here.
How does it work?
EWEB’s Carbon Forestry Lab program is completely voluntary. The charges for the program are added to your EWEB bill.
You have two investment options:
Option 1: Basic ($6.50/month)
Your investment will support material costs for trees, shrubs, protective materials, seedling transportation and storage.
Option 2: Plus ($8.50/month)
In addition to supporting material costs for trees, shrubs, protective materials, seedling transportation and storage, your investment will provide funding for the annual carbon inventory and research work conducted by UO graduate students.
Carbon Forestry Lab funds may be utilized at the existing High Banks Site, or to expand the program throughout the McKenzie River watershed through conservation easements, land use partnerships or direct investment.
EWEB's formal Rate Schedule for this program is available here.
What is the Carbon Forestry Lab?
The University of Oregon’s Soil Plant Atmosphere Lab and EWEB are partnering on a pilot study funded by a National Science Foundation Convergence Grant. The project is on a 12-acre fallow field in Springfield near the McKenzie River, part of a 140-acre parcel EWEB purchased from Weyerhaeuser Company.
Researchers are studying soil and forest management techniques to store excess carbon and increase the amount of carbon that can be stored in the soil.
In early 2022, the Lab team planted Douglas fir, incense cedar, ponderosa pine, cottonwood, bigleaf maple, ash and white oak tree species, plus shrubs that include osoberry, cascara, Oregon grape, snowberry, ninebark and creek dogwood.
The team will monitor carbon levels as the trees grow in various treatments, such as hardwood-only, conifer-only, mixed tree and shrub, and shrubs only.
The dual benefits of protecting the McKenzie River watershed and potentially sequestering carbon make this a unique opportunity for EWEB and our customers.
Take action
As we transition to a new customer information and billing system, we have temporarily paused program enrollment. We will begin enrolling new participants in early December when we have transitioned to our new systems.
We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. EWEB staff will still be available to answer all questions regarding our environmental programs during this period.
Learn more about our system upgrades and scheduled downtime here.
