Warm Springs Gets $24 Million For Reliable Water Treatment Plant After Years Of Issues

By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle

December 25, 2022

A federal and tribal agreement will give the Warm Springs Reservation in north-central Oregon a functional and reliable water treatment facility for the first time in several years.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Indian Health Authority have combined nearly $24 million in funds under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November 2021 to allocate to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs for the project, they announced Tuesday.

Once built, it will offer a clean and consistent water supply to the reservation’s 3,800 residents for the first time since at least 2019.

The current water treatment plant is more than 40 years old and does not supply enough water to meet demand. It’s also prone to frequent power outages and system shutdowns, Warm Springs Emergency Manager Dan Martinez told the Capital Chronicle.

The water from the plant has a smell and odor that many find unpalatable and worrying, but Martinez said it is not unsafe to drink and that some do drink it.

However, residents are used to boil-notices caused by plant shutdowns, including one that lasted about two weeks from late March to early April of this year following an underground electrical fire at the plant.

Martinez has overseen a bottled water distribution center on the reservation since September 2019, where residents regularly pick up 1- and 5-gallon jugs of water.

“It’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” he said. “Particularly on Friday afternoons people will drive through and get their water for the weekend.”

At the Warm Springs K-8 Academy, many 5 gallon jugs of water are delivered daily for students to use for drinking water and to wash their hands, Martinez said.

The design phase for the treatment plant will begin in 2023, according to a news release from EPA and the Indian Health Authority. The water treated by the plant will come from the Deschutes River. There is no firm date for completion. In an email, EPA staff said it will be a few years until the new plant is ready.

Until then, Martinez said he will continue to oversee the distribution of bottled water for residents.

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