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Portland Water Bureau outlines conservation programs, wholesale shifts and fixed-cost pressures
Summary
Water bureau staff told the committee the city has two high-quality sources (Bull Run watershed and Columbia South Shore well field), is seeing falling wholesale demand as four wholesale partners plan to leave, and said conservation reduces demand but does not eliminate fixed-cost pressures that will push rates up.
Portland Water Bureau staff told the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Oct. 6 that the bureau manages two high-quality drinking water sources and relies on conservation and active planning to meet customers' needs, but that declining wholesale demand and a changing customer mix create upward pressure on rates.
"The Bull Run Watershed has been our water supply since 1895," Sarah Murphy Santner, director of resource protection and planning at the Water Bureau, said, and the city also maintains the Columbia South Shore Well Field as a secondary source. Santner noted the bureau serves about a million people across a service area that extends beyond the City of Portland.
Santner said in 2023-24 roughly 38% of the water produced was sold to wholesale partners (19 providers); 52% was sold to retail customers within the city; about 9% is attributed to water loss or…
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