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Council committee presses Water Bureau on Bull Run filtration costs, oversight and conflicts of interest
Summary
Committee heard an extended update on the Bull Run filtration project's construction progress, costs and governance. Water Bureau staff said the program is now using a $2.46 billion figure for remaining work, that $881 million has been spent to date, and that change orders/amendments in progress total about $202 million; councilors pressed on owner's-rep independence and asked the city attorney to review conflicts.
The Public Works Committee received a detailed oversight briefing on the Bull Run filtration program on Aug. 11, focusing on construction progress, cost changes and proposed governance structures including an owner's representative role and an independent financial oversight panel.
DCA Donipoff told the committee this is "the largest and most consequential infrastructure investment the city is making," and emphasized the importance of governance and public transparency. Portland Public Utilities Director Ting Lu reported that, as of June 30, 2026, the filtration program was 37% complete and staff remain on track to deliver filtered water by Sept. 29. "As of 06/30/2026, the project is 37% complete, and we are on track to deliver filtered water by September 29," Ting Lu said.
Chief Engineer Muriel Geysa Toifel said the program had spent $881,000,000 as of the end of June and clarified the budget figures: the full program budget is $2,580,000,000 but the bureau will report against $2,460,000,000 for the two remaining open projects (filtration and pipelines). Muriel said recent monthly spending and craft labor increases were evidence of catching up after earlier subcontractor changes; she reported 418 craft laborers on-site in the previous month.
Councilors pressed staff on where cost increases originated and whether the owner's representative model presents conflicts. Councilor Smith asked whether hiring a consultant that also holds subcontracts on the project could undercut its independence. Muriel and Director Ting Lu said Brown and Caldwell is providing owner-rep services as an amendment to an existing professional-services contract and that the bureau would provide procurement detail; the city attorney was asked to advise on conflict lines. "We hear your concerns about, who's gonna check the checker and whether this will be conflict of interest, and we can get back to you with the city attorney's recommendation," DCA Donipoff said.
Staff described several risk-management steps: agreement on land-use-related cost and schedule impacts that added 198 days to the filtration milestone baseline, negotiated retrospective and prospective suspension-costs, mitigation spending such as $3,500,000 to avoid a potential $15,000,000 tunneling risk, and a change-order/amendment pipeline of about $202,000,000. The bureau outlined plans to stand up an independent financial oversight panel of five volunteer members (including 1'2 potential Portland Utility Board transitions), with recruitment in August'September, onboarding in October and monthly cost and risk evaluations beginning in November.
Committee members asked for a procurement explanation and a city-attorney opinion on conflict of interest; staff agreed to provide those follow-ups and to return in the fall with additional oversight updates.
