...About the Willamette Water Supply Program
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Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD), the City of Hillsboro and the City of Beaverton are partnering to design and build the Willamette Water Supply System, a resilient additional water supply for Washington County.
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There is enough water for today—but steps are being taken now to have an adequate supply to meet the needs of current and future generations. Water conservation alone is not enough.
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The mid-Willamette River, one of Oregon’s largest rivers, is the new supply source. A state-of-the-art water treatment plant will use multiple treatment processes to produce top quality drinking water.
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The water system is carefully engineered and built to better withstand natural disasters, protect public health, and speed recovery in emergencies.
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Close coordination with local jurisdictions—and building the pipeline at the same time as road projects—reduces construction impacts and keeps costs in check. Costs are carefully managed to stay within budget.
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The project is estimated to cost $1.6 billion. Costs are shared by TVWD, Hillsboro and Beaverton based on the amount of water received. Water supply partners will pay their proportional share.
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A combination of methods fund the project, including cash reserves, current business and residential customer rate increases and system development charges paid for by new development. TVWD and Hillsboro are utilizing EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loans that will finance up to $638 million which will be repaid by customers over many years—so future water customers share the cost. Project construction and operation are expected to create over 4,000 jobs.
