Springfield Utility Board secures $9,638,749 in state funding for McKenzie River water

The Springfield Utility Board has been awarded $9,638,749 from Oregon’s Safe Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund to advance the McKenzie River Water Supply Project, city officials announced following the Feb. 22, 2026 approval. The funds are designated to cover final design and permitting work and to reimburse SUB for design and permitting costs incurred over the past year for a new intake and treatment scheme serving the Thurston area.

Award details show the financing is structured to include approximately $3 million as a forgivable loan with the remainder provided at low interest, and the program is administered by Business Oregon in partnership with the Oregon Health Authority. David Looney, SUB project manager, said the state funding will “put us in a position to meet anticipated increases in water demand for the next several decades,” adding that the new source “provides a new, redundant, or additional, source of water. And it also strengthens our ability to help our community recover if there’s a natural disaster.”

Project plans call for a new intake pump station on the McKenzie River in the Thurston Well field or on the river banks in the Thurston area, a raw-water pipeline to a new treatment plant located near Thurston Middle School, and a treated-water pipeline to connect that plant to SUB’s existing distribution system. SUB currently draws water from groundwater wells and an intake on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River; the McKenzie River project is intended to add a resilient surface-water source to that mix.

SUB projects a 48 percent increase in peak water demand over the next 50 years, and officials framed the river-source project as a long-term reliability investment. Greg Miller, SUB director of water engineering and operations, said the board is balancing infrastructure needs with customer costs: “Delivering on that commitment while advancing critical water infrastructure is the kind of mission-based, responsible stewardship we strive for on behalf of our community.”

Timing for the next phases remains limited to the statements released with the award. Looney told local reporters the design and permitting process is expected to be completed by early next year, and reporting on the award indicates construction is expected to begin in mid-2027. The state funding specifically supports design and permitting work; no total project cost, construction contract awards, or detailed procurement schedules have been released.

SUB governance items posted in mid-February provide adjacent context for board activity: a Feb. 11 special procurement approval for cloud hosting and ArcGIS Enterprise migration support with ROK Technologies LLC, an executive session notice for Feb. 16, and a joint Rainbow Water District work session posted Feb. 17. SUB is accepting Budget Committee applicants through 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 20, 2026, and the utility’s McKenzie project page will carry future public updates as design, permitting and construction milestones are finalized.

With state funding secured for design and permitting, SUB moves from planning toward construction readiness, but officials have not yet disclosed the full project budget, expected construction contractors, or the specific rate implications for Springfield customers.