EWEB has more than ample supply and treatment capacity on the McKenzie River to meet the city's water needs now and into the future. The new Willamette Water Treatment Plant is not about needing extra capacity, it's about diversifying resources and increasing the region's resilience to natural and human-caused disasters.
Example Use Scenario
Say it's July and water use is at its peak because people are watering their lawns and gardens. Eugene's peak water demand is about 50 million gallons a day (mgd). Right now, all that water comes from the McKenzie River. In the future, we can reduce the demand on the McKenzie by supplementing with water from the Willamette.
Since the McKenzie is a major tributary of the Willamette, any extra water left in the McKenzie will flow to the downstream portion of the Willamette.
What about projected population growth and water demands?
EWEB completes a water master plan every 10 years. As part of that process, we look at population changes and how those changes affect water demand. Data gathered for the 2025 Master Plan shows new residential service connections have grown by approximately 0.6% each year for the last decade, but peak use has actually declined. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why, but plumbing code updates, increased awareness about water conservation and an increase in infill and multi-family apartment complexes with water efficient landscaping likely contribute.
