The City of Willamina, Oregon, is a small rural community that relies on one source of potable raw water: Willamina Creek. Unlike most municipal water supplies that experience water quality issues during the summer low-flow months, the city regularly experienced water quality issues during the winter months and high-flow events. Turbidity issues worsened with stream migration and streambank erosion upstream of the existing intake. With only three days of treated water available, the city’s only recourse to maintain their community drinking water supply was the design and construction of a new intake structure that was more resilient and less likely to clog. This small community had a significant, urgent, and critical infrastructure project that rates or system development charges could not fully fund. The city was successful in obtaining nearly $12 million in grants and loans for the project from seven funding sources: Community Development Block Grants, State Revolving Loan Fund grant-loan combinations, an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant, matching funds, and one of the first US Environmental Protection Agency Community Grant in the state. The project designed and constructed a new intake, nearly two miles of fused polyvinyl chloride pipeline, or FPVC—the first of its kind in Oregon, stormwater facilities, and new supervisory control and data acquisition and controls—on time and within budget, all while complying with different funding agency requirements.
After this session, participants will be better able to:
• Leverage resources during design to identify, apply, and win grants and loans.
• Select and design water infrastructure that meets regulatory requirements, provides for resiliency, and fits within funding agency requirements.
• Employ flexible bidding schedules and partner with contractors, resulting in easier projects delivered on time and under budget.
Contributor/Source
Shannon Williams-Principal Engineer
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Mastery of basic concepts associated with an area has been obtained. Focuses on understanding nuances, advanced concepts, and intricacies with implementation within knowledge area. Strong understanding of how the concept impacts other factors or areas of operations.
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CLL
Click, Listen & Learn (CLL) are interactive educational webinars. Each program is led by top experts in the field who share new ideas, methods, and technologies in a fast-paced two-hour time frame. These programs are available free to APWA members. CLL programs are eligible for continuing education units (CEUs).
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