Since 1970, Clean Water Services has worked to protect public health while enhancing the natural environment of the Tualatin River Watershed. We help the people and businesses in the region grow and thrive by looking at the needs of our watershed as a whole, and taking the long view on what investments are needed to serve the people who live here well into the future. This annual review shares highlights from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, and our dedication to the river, our communities, and each other.
It has been wonderful to spend more time together in person over the last year – at community events, on facility tours, and in our workplaces. Clean Water Services is planning and taking actions to adapt to increasingly unpredictable weather conditions, seeking to lessen the devastation of a tree-killing beetle, or dealing with the impacts of inflation and supply chain challenges. We know that protecting public health and the environment must continue 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
All of us at Clean Water Services believe in the essential work we do to efficiently and effectively serve the sewer and stormwater needs of our urban area as well as the health of our ecosystem. Harnessing our care, passion, and commitment together for the environment, communities, and our partners, we return clean water to the Tualatin River in a way that supports the health of the watershed and everyone who depends on it. That dedication is among our core values, and it’s what is required of us by the Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, as laid out in our first-of-its-kind, watershed-based National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The regulations at the center of our work have always been stringent due to the uniquely challenging Tualatin River, and our new permit that went into effect January 1, 2023, asks even more of us. Always guided by science, we’re also already hard at work preparing for our next permit cycle about a half-decade from now, to keep up with the needs of Washington County’s growing population and only river, while adapting to a rapidly changing climate.
Ensuring the resilience of our region will require the collective efforts of all of us -- our customers, staff, volunteers, Board of Directors, partner cities, and partner organizations. We can make great things happen by working and solving problems together. I don’t expect the path ahead of us to be an easy one, but we’re looking well into the future with a practical, proactive, and people-centered perspective – charting a steady course to provide us all with a healthy watershed and connected, livable community.
With gratitude,
Diane Taniguchi-Dennis, CEO
New Permit
Because the Tualatin River is so small, slow, and sensitive, Clean Water Services operates under some of the most stringent water quality standards and innovative management techniques in the nation to ensure the continuous improvement and protection of the river. Those standards are set in our National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.
Issued under the federal Clean Water Act, NPDES permits are renewed every five years to ensure they keep up with the needs of the nation’s waterways and growing population, while adapting to a rapidly changing climate. Our new NPDES permit went into effect January 1, 2023.
The Tualatin River not only requires uncommonly strict water quality standards, its challenges demand innovation. Luckily, DEQ’s approach to permitting provides the flexibility to look beyond compliance so we can work with our partner cities and other regional partners to do more for the environment and our community.
Student Education
This school year in-person learning was back to pre-pandemic levels as we navigated the challenges of limited transportation capacity and increased interest in program participation. The CWS education team leads program development, coordination, and delivery with support from every CWS department. More than 6,000 students participated in at least one in-person presentation, lab, or field experience delivered or funded by Clean Water Services.
In collaboration with the Portland Metro STEM Partnership, CWS returned to a summer in-person teacher externship. Fifteen high school science and math teachers joined CWS staff to learn about natural resource careers.
Learn more about our education project in our Student Education Report.
Balm Grove
Salmon, trout, lamprey, and more are swimming freely through Gales creek in Forest Grove, now that the Balm Grove dam is just a memory. For decades, the dam was a barrier to fish passage, disrupting the natural habitat for native marine life. Its removal in September 2022 opened up nearly 35 miles of prime habitat to threatened species, a major step forward in a larger statewide effort in fish habitat restoration. The stream’s diversion marked the first time since 1936 that fish had been able to successfully get around the dam. Crews were heartened to see that salmon almost immediately started to move upstream.
A coalition of Tree for All partners, together with Biohabitats, manage the site’s ongoing rehabilitation.
Cedar Mill
Infrastructure projects can present the opportunity to work in partnership and include additional improvements at an overall reduced cost. The need to replace an aging pipe in the Cedar Mill Creek watershed provided Clean Water Services with an opportunity to also invest in local environmental and wildlife habitat improvements richly.
The two-year project replaced an over 40-year-old sanitary sewer pipe, which ran through Tualatin Hills Nature Park and enhanced the environment around Cedar Mill Creek. The project is helping Cedar Mill Creek thrive and provides cool, clean water as it flows through Tualatin Hills Nature Park to its confluence at Beaverton Creek.
See different stages of the project and what the site could look like in the future using our virtual 360-degree tool.
Butternut Creek
Before population growth led to its disconnection from the floodplain, Butternut Creek meandered through forests and farms, swelling in the rainy season and dwindling in the heat.
Now, the creek is flowing in the natural path it originally carved into the earth. Several projects came together to make the stream more resilient to flow changes while diversifying plant and wildlife habitat and providing natural beauty. As many members of the surrounding community are people of color and non-English speaking, we worked to dismantle specific barriers and include and empower neighbors. The site is now in its final phase, as the next decade is dedicated to caring for the site. CWS and partner organizations are in it for the long haul, providing ongoing stewardship, technical assistance, native plants, education, and information to support this site and others nearby.
Reuse Summit
To increase understanding of and advocacy for reuse water, which we consider essential to addressing our region’s long-term water needs and adapting to climate change, we worked with WateReuse Pacific Northwest to cohost a Reuse Summer Summit l in June 2023 at our Durham Water Resource Recovery Facility. “By identifying the drivers that encourage our partners to enter the world of reuse, whether economic, environmental, or social, we can pave the way for a healthier and more resilient community,” Water Reuse Manager Jared Kinnear told attendees.”
New Website
The Clean Water Services website is far more than a landing page to pay your bill. It’s a vital community resource with tools that customers need to ensure a healthy lifestyle, healthy community, and an overall healthy Tualatin River Watershed. In 2022, we completed a website overhaul with an emphasis on making important information accessible and easy to understand via bilingual content and ADA-compliant documents. The choice to overhaul our website in 2022 and create a bilingual and equitable resource has expanded accessibility to more people in our region.
Field Ops Flood Response
Winter weather takes no holiday at CWS, and neither do staff members when there’s a weather emergency. During a stretch of nasty weather during December holidays, there were several emergencies that field crews responded to. That included a lateral repair during freezing and wet conditions that restored water service to a customer just in time for Christmas. Heavy rains that week also resulted in more than 50 calls to the Field Ops crew. CWS and the city of Hillsboro worked together with several vactor trucks to keep sanitary flows in the system despite the heavy rains. Not only were there emergencies in the community, CWS’ own Forest Grove Water Resource Recovery Facility experienced flooding when a high head pump station was overwhelmed with flows. Crews worked around the clock to minimize damage and flooding.
To serve our growing community we must maintain our collection system and treatment facilities, invest in infrastructure renewal and replacement, hire and retain talented employees, adapt to climate change, and meet stricter environmental requirements. Every investment we make is building toward a long-term solution. We are dedicated to keeping rates reasonable and predictable and providing value for you through a livable community.
Budgeting may not be the most thrilling topic, but we’re thrilled about how it will allow us to continue protecting your health and that of our watershed well into the future. Explore our Adopted Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget to see how.
ASEAN Smart Cities
The impact of Clean Water Servies stretches far beyond the Tualatin River Watershed. In spring 2023, CWS leadership traveled to Southeast Asia through the partnership and support of the US-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership (USASCP). The delegates attended the Singapore International Water Week Spotlight event and connected with the Vientiane City office for Management and Services (VCOMS) in the capital city of Laos. Clean Water Services kicked off a partnership with a water utility in Laos in November 2021, as part of the USASCP. The USASCP pairs five US utilities with “twin” utility and agencies in Southeast Asia to foster collaboration and build innovative technology. CWS is paired with VCOMS in Vientiane, the capital and largest city in Laos. In 2022, representatives from VCOMS and one of its Laotian partner organizations visited Fernhill and Durham after participating in WEFTEC in New Orleans. During their visit, they learned about water quality standards, policy matters, industrial programs, and the technologies CWS uses to protect public health while enhancing the natural environment. Following this visit, the VCOMS office expressed interest in learning more about wastewater technology and treatment, particularly decentralized treatment technologies to address highly polluted canals and drainage and leverage nature-based solutions.
EAB Response
CWS is working in collaboration with state and local partners to address and slow the spread of the emerald ash borer in Oregon. First detected in Forest Grove in June of 2022, the destructive beetle has the power to wipe out nearly all ash trees in the state. Oregon ash makes up the majority of the tree cover around our streams and rivers.
Shading the Tualatin River and its tributary streams is a vital part of meeting our requirements for keeping the water at a healthy temperature. With our Tree for All partners, we add a million plants to the watershed every year, and we’ve been building resilience to threats like the emerald ash borer by increasing plant diversity at our sites.
Wapato Lake
Challenges at Wapato Lake involved not only aging infrastructure, but also the significant level of collaboration, funding, and expertise that would be needed to transform this expansive and critical site into a haven for wildlife and an asset to the surrounding communities. A decade-long effort transformed the community’s capacity to address these challenges. With input from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Clean Water Services forged a strong alliance with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tualatin Valley Irrigation District, Joint Water Commission, and other partners to replace the aging pump infrastructure and work together toward full ecological restoration. From that partnership emerged the Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation’s newest refuges, which is now open to the public.
Fanno Creek Trail Raising
While flooding is natural along the Fanno Creek in the wetter months, especially in winter, it occurred later into the summer of 2022 than is typical due to record-high spring rainfall.
In response to community concerns about flooding of the Fanno Creek Trail under Scholls Ferry Road, in the summer of 2022 we collaborated with the City of Tigard and Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District to quickly prepare the area for construction. In-house CWS construction crews then elevated the path to most effectively use ratepayer dollars.
New Cooperative Agreement
CWS and the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District marked a nearly 20-year partnership and acted on a new cooperative agreement. For nearly two decades, CWS and Tualatin SWCD have partnered on a cost-effective component of CWS’ strategy to comply with temperature requirements in our NPDES permit. This includes planting shade trees and plants along streamside areas to keep the water cool on hot days. The partnership also includes CWS’ contribution to the Tualatin SWCD invasive species program. In May, the Board authorized funding to extend this work through Fiscal Year 2027-28.
Clean Water Services is a leader in water resource management.
Clean Water Services is a Utility of the Future. We were recognized in 2022 for our accomplishments in Energy Generation & Recovery. We have been recognized as a water resources Utility of the Future since 2016.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies awarded us for Peak Performance in wastewater treatment as outlined by our NPDES permit. We received two platinum and two gold for 2022.
Here are some of the other awards we received in the past year:
- APWA Project of the Year – Cedar Mill Enhancement Project
- PNCWA Innovative Stormwater Project Award – Butternut Creek Enhancement Project
- PNCWA 2023 Stormwater Professional Excellence Award – Jadene Stensland
- 3CMA Savvy Digital Interactive Overall Website, Second Place
- 2022 SWIM Industry Leadership Award – Ting Lu
The CWS Portland to Coast team “Clean Water Walkers” placed first in the Mixed Corporate Division, and 27th overall out of 275 teams!
Clean Water Services is already hard at work on projects, plans, and programs for the current fiscal year. We don’t take a break from protecting public health, enhancing the natural environment, and providing the best service possible to our ratepayers.