PORTLAND WATER BUREAU Water Management and Conservation Plan FINAL | SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 FROM FOREST TO FAUCET FROM FOREST TO FAUCET Contents Executive summary 1 1 Introduction 7 2 Water supplier description 11 2.1 Sources: OAR 690-086-0140(1) 20 2.2 Service areas: OAR 690-086-0140(2) 22 2.3 Adequacy and reliability of existing supply: OAR 690-086-0140(3) 24 2.4 Water delivered: OAR 690-086-0140(4) 34 2.5 Water rights: OAR 690-086-0140(5) 39 2.6 Communities served: OAR 690-086-0140(6) 58 2.7 Interconnections: OAR 690-086-0140(7) 64 2.8 System schematic: OAR 690-086-0140(8) 67 2.9 Water loss: OAR 690-086-0140(9) 76 3 Water conservation 79 3.1 Progress report: OAR 690-086-0150(1) 79 3.2 Water use measurement and reporting program: OAR 690-086-0150(2) 93 3.3 Other conservation measures currently implemented: OAR 690-086-0150(3) 94 3.4 Required conservation measures for 2020–2025: OAR 690-086-0150(4) 97 3.5 Enhanced conservation measures: OAR 690-086-0150(5) 104 4 Water curtailment 109 4.1 Supply deficiencies and capacity limitations: OAR 690-086-0160(1) 109 4.2 Stages of alert and levels of severity: OAR 690-086-0160(2); OAR 690-086-0160(3) 113 4.3 Curtailment actions: OAR 690-086-0160(4) 115 5 Water supply 121 5.1 Current and future service areas: OAR 690-086-0170(1) 121 5.2 Demand forecasts, schedule to exercise permits, and comparison of projected need to available sources: OAR 690-086-0170(2–4) 124 5.3 Alternative sources: OAR 690-086-0170(5) 129 5.4 Quantification of projected maximum rate and monthly volume: OAR 690-086- 0170(6) 130 5.5 Mitigation actions under state and federal law: OAR 690-086-0170(7) 130 5.6 New water rights: OAR 690-086-0170(8) 130 WATER MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION PLAN | I Appendices A Projected water demand: a technical memo for the Supply System Master Plan B Future water supply analysis: a memo for the Supply System Master Plan C Final order for 2010 Water Management and Conservation Plan D Strategic Plan E Example water sales agreement F Water rights final orders G Water Managers Advisory Board recommended curtailment plan H 2019 seasonal water supply augmentation and contingency plan I Water loss audit report for fiscal year 2017–18 J Letter to affected local governments and wholesale customers K Comments from local governments and wholesale customers L Comments from the Oregon Water Resources Department and the public M Notice for final orders N Final orders from Oregon Water Resources Department approving the Water Management and Conservation Plan ii | WATER MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION PLAN PORTLAND WATER BUREAU Executive summary The Portland Water Bureau is pleased to submit this Water Management and Conservation Plan (WMCP). This plan allows the bureau to comply with conditions set by the Oregon Water Resources Department. These conditions are part of the water right permit extensions for groundwater rights held by the City of Portland. The bureau submitted its first WMCP in 2000 and an updated plan in 2010. This 2020 plan describes • changes to Portland’s water system; • how the bureau will continue to encourage conservation and prevent water loss; • the bureau’s plans for potential curtailment; and • how the bureau will maintain a strong supply into the future. This WMCP meets the state requirement for an update every ten years, with a benchmark update every five years. This WMCP also adheres to Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 690, Division 86: Water Management and Conservation Plans. The bureau supplies water to 965,400 people (631,900 in its retail service area and 333,500 through wholesale providers). The bureau’s primary source is surface water from the Bull Run Watershed, which has served Portland since 1895. The bureau also uses a secondary ground- water source from the Columbia South Shore Well Field (CSSWF), which has served Portland since 1985. The Bull Run Watershed is 26 miles east of downtown Portland; the CSSWF is just east of the Portland International Airport. To prepare this WMCP, the bureau analyzed its future water needs. The bureau concluded that it does not need access to additional water (what is sometimes called “greenlight water”) beyond what is already developed under existing groundwater permits. The bureau can meet demand with its current water supplies in part because of its successful water conservation program. Per capita water use in Portland’s retail service area declined from 92 gallons per person per day in fiscal year (FY) 2010–11 to 84 gallons per person per day in FY 2017–18. This WMCP and the bureau’s Supply System Master Plan As it prepared this WMCP, the bureau was also completing a Supply System Master Plan (SSMP), which will update its previous Infrastructure Master Plan. The SSMP focuses on sce- nario development and analysis to build an adaptive supply system plan that acknowledges multiple possible future scenarios. The SSMP will also identify potential system improvement projects—including enhancing existing conservation programs—and their contributions to meeting service goals. The bureau will complete its SSMP by fall 2020. EXECUTIVE SummarY WATER MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION PLAN | 1 The bureau used data and analysis generated for the SSMP for this WMCP. These included information about demand forecasting, source reliability, and alternatives analysis. Highlights of Section 2: Municipal water supplier description Section 2 describes Portland’s sources and system. Overall system About 60 percent of the water the bureau produces serves people within the City of Portland. The remaining 40 percent serves the bureau’s wholesale customers: 19 other cities, special districts, and private water companies. Expected effects of climate change Since the 2010 WMCP, the bureau has conducted water supply analyses to evaluate climate impacts to Bull Run storage and the future need for groundwater augmentation. Hydrologic impacts from climate change are discussed in Section 2 and include • projected shifts to seasonal patterns as Bull Run moves from a transient rain-snow-fed system to a primarily rain-dominant system by the end of the century; • higher annual and seasonal air temperatures, which are expected to lead to higher evaporation rates and lower soil moisture; • the potential for an earlier and longer dry season; and, consequently, • lower late spring, summer, and early fall streamflows, which are anticipated to result in decreased reservoir inflows during the summer supply peak season. Upcoming changes to water treatment The bureau is currently planning for two major changes to its treatment processes. Both of these changes are in response to regulatory requirements. • By 2022, the bureau will change its treatment processes to make Portland’s water less corrosive to lead and other metals. (Portland does not have lead pipes in its distribution system, but some home and building plumbing contains lead parts.) • By 2027, the bureau will start filtering Bull Run water. This change follows a series of low-level detections of Cryptosporidium in Bull Run water. The bureau does not currently treat the water for Cryptosporidium and has operated under a variance to the federal treatment requirement. Well field supply considerations The bureau monitors aquifer yields, operational and equipment limitations, and water quality concerns to ensure that the well field continues to be a reliable water supply. The well field is a critical drinking water source for the bureau and is an important part of its system resilience. Water use Despite population growth in the retail and wholesale service areas, the bureau’s average daily demand has been relatively flat over the past 10 years. The longer trend is that average daily demand has declined over the past forty years. The decline is due to decreases in per capita 2 | WATER MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION PLAN PORTLAND WATER BUREAU consumption from shifting land use patterns, plumbing code changes, conservation, the price of water, and other factors (as discussed in Sections 2 and 5). Section 5 discusses projected shifts in demand. Highlights of Section 3: Water conservation Section 3 reports on the bureau’s progress on conservation benchmarks identified in the 2010 WMCP. Section 3 also describes new benchmarks for the bureau’s conservation programs. Major themes of Section 3 include the following: • The bureau continues to operate a successful conservation program with services for all customers and an emphasis on low-income and commercial customers. The bureau has a focus on equity in program design and delivery; this focus is reflected in conservation work. • Conservation plays an important role in meeting Portland’s future water needs. The bureau will research opportunities for potential conservation program expansion. • Since the 2010 plan, the bureau has increased its work to understand and reduce water loss. Summary of 2025 conservation benchmarks Water audits and water loss Water loss is currently above 10 percent of total water supplied. With a focused water loss analyst now on staff, the bureau will develop a comprehensive Water Loss Action Plan, to be submitted to the state in 2022. The bureau will also continue to perform annual water audits and take steps to reduce water loss based on the results. Metering and meter testing All of the bureau’s current service connections are metered. The bureau will continue to meter all new service connections. Section 3 lists specific meter testing and maintenance bench- marks by meter size. Rate structures and billing practices The bureau conducted a conservation rate structure study in 2013. Results indicated that changing Portland’s water rate structure was unlikely to lead to significant reductions in water use.