Greg Geist, director of Clackamas Water Environment Services, said the agency serves about 200,000 people in Clackamas County’s urbanized area and treats wastewater, stormwater and surface water to recover usable resources.

"We are a special district, which means we have ratepayers instead of taxpayers," Geist said, explaining WES’s funding structure and role. He summarized the facility’s outputs: "We make clean water that goes back out to the river for downstream uses. We make biogas, which we then burn to make electricity," and "we make a natural fertilizer called biosolids." Geist said the agency uses the biogas to power roughly half of the treatment facility and that biosolids are applied on agricultural fields in Eastern Oregon.

The agency combines long-range facility planning (20–40 years) with population studies, a capital plan and a long-range financial plan so it can predict when it needs to build infrastructure and how to pay for it. Geist said about 60% of WES’s capital plan focuses on maintaining existing infrastructure, much of which was built in the 1970s, and about 40% is dedicated to accommodating population-driven growth. He also explained system development charges, fees charged to developers to buy into future capacity.

Geist highlighted two recent projects. The Clackamole outfall project added a second outfall from WES’s Oregon City treatment facility to the Willamette River to increase wet-weather capacity. "It was a $58,000,000 project," Geist said, adding the work was completed this past summer and "it was on time, on budget." He described using a tunnel-boring machine — a roughly 9-foot-diameter machine about 50 feet long — that bored roughly a mile to reach the river. Geist said the machine stalled briefly during the job; crews made a pad, lifted the machine onto a barge and sent it back to its manufacturer when the work finished. Geist said the project will provide capacity through about 2080.

On surface-water work, Geist described the Carly Creek project in the Clackamas Industrial Area, where WES bought a former 15-acre farm and constructed a treatment wetland to treat runoff from approximately 400 acres of industrial land. The project also included restoring about 1,400 feet of creek channel to create fish-friendly habitat and reduce risk to downstream drinking-water intakes.

Geist emphasized public engagement and volunteer opportunities. WES has partnered for eight years with SOLVE, a nonprofit volunteer organization, on a summer waterways cleanup series and other events at sites such as John Storm Park, Clackamas Park and High Rocks. "If it goes on the ground, it gets in the river, so do your part," Geist said, and he directed listeners to clackamas.us/wes for email updates and event information.

The interview provided an overview of how WES balances maintaining aging infrastructure, funding future growth and engaging residents in stewardship. For more information and event listings, WES posts updates at clackamas.us/wes.