Project Overview

It comes as a surprise for many that Oregon, a state with a rainy reputation, is running short of water. Oregon's steady growth is leading to current and projected problems in meeting water demands. The problem is especially acute in small communities with rapid growth.

Wilsonville, for example, a city of 12,000 residents and 73 percent growth since 1990, has placed a moratorium on new construction because of limited water supplies. Its residents recently voted to draw water from the Willamette River, whose water quality requires building a treatment plant to do so. Lafayette, a city of 2,000 with 66 percent growth since 1990, is considering logging its trees to pay for a water treatment plant as its wells run dry.

This proposal requests funding to help offer an innovative solution for the water problems of these two Willamette Valley cities - and for cities all across Oregon. The Saving Water and Energy Education Program (SWEEP) uses community education, financial incentives and public-private partnerships to place water conservation on par with digging new wells, piping in river water and building treatment plants. It applies lessons learned from years of energy planning to offer communities a least-cost opportunity to meet their water needs, accommodate growth and better protect the environment.

SWEEP already is underway in Lafayette and is planned for implementation in Wilsonville. In these pilot cities, SWEEP consists of a community-wide education campaign to give all residents the opportunity to learn about saving water and energy. The education campaign also encourages residents and businesses to buy appliances and fixtures that save water and energy. A partnership of private businesses, the state and the cities is providing innovative financial incentives for buying appliances and fixtures. Program participants can use low-interest loans, state tax credits and dollars saved on energy and water costs to pay for their purchases on their utility bills.

The proposal also includes a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of SWEEP’s performance in the two pilot cities, including a study funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to gauge water and energy savings in 25 households in each city. As well, it requests EPA funding to prepare first a SWEEP case study and then a program template for application in at least four more cities statewide. SWEEP’s efforts in Lafayette already have drawn attention from the city of Dayton.

SWEEP’s basic goal is to show that community-wide water conservation can be a clean and cheap option as a community plans for its water needs and for its growth. For this proposal, SWEEP sets the goal of reaching 100 percent of community members school age and older with a water conservation message. It also sets the goal of saving 274 million gallons in water and

24 billion Btu (7 million kWh) per year across six targeted communities.

The Oregon Office of Energy is submitting this application on behalf of the SWEEP partnership. We are a state agency with the mission to protect Oregon's environment by saving energy and developing clean energy resources. We have a long history of working as partners with local governments, businesses and others to achieve these goals. Our programs focus on finding solutions that make sense both for the environment and the broader community.