The new Willamette River water system will be one of Oregon’s most important projects—designed to supply water to more than 300,000 residents and some of the state’s largest employers for the next 100 years. The Willamette Water Supply Program is underway, but it will take over a decade to develop. For this major project, planning, engineering, financing, public outreach and permitting requirements will need to be strategically coordinated starting early in the process.
As a first step a preliminary design study for the Willamette Supply began in late 2013. The study considers alternative routing options for the water pipe, potential reservoirs sites, and evaluates approaches to construction that will significantly reduce impacts to the environment and the public.
