FAQs
Sandy Clean Waters
We need a comprehensive approach to meet our wastewater needs, both now and in the future. We are under a federal consent decree that requires us to implement a comprehensive solution, and to maintain a moratorium on new land use permits until we’ve done so. After an extensive and deliberative review of all options, we have concluded this is the best long-term solution for the City.
Options considered including doing nothing, upgrading the existing wastewater treatment plant, increasing irrigation of local nurseries, letting treated wastewater soak into the ground, temporarily storing untreated or treated wastewater, relocating discharge to Deep Creek, sending wastewater for treatment to another Clackamas County treatment plant, relocating discharge to the Sandy River, and sending wastewater for treatment to Gresham. The two strongest options were relocating to the Sandy River or sending wastewater to Gresham, and ultimately sending it to Gresham was the best option. See a breakdown of the options considered here.
The remaining steps are: City Council adopting the Facilities Plan Amendment, a final engineering evaluation, and completing an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Gresham to formalize our partnership. These steps are on target to be completed by the end of 2025.
The City has taken a number of interim steps over the years, but this city council was willing to take on the task of finding a long-term solution. They recognize it is important to the future of Sandy to not kick this can further down the road.
We project that ratepayers will see significant increases on their wastewater charges, likely 10-14% per year for the next eight years. The overall cost of these projects is over $200 million. We are working now to secure additional assistance from the state to help us substantially reduce that cost to ratepayers. We recognize that this will be hard for the community, particularly given other recent increases. Unfortunately, this is the only way to effectively address this challenge in the long term and provide a pathway to lower rate increases once we have made the transition. The City does offer an assistance program for low-income residents who cannot afford their bills.
Yes. We have secured a state grant from the legislature and are working to have additional funds appropriated by the state. We’ve also been able to secure low-interest loans from the state and federal government, and continue to look for additional ways to lower the cost to ratepayers.
We are running up against the limit of how much treated wastewater the City can discharge, which is why the City is moving forward with this comprehensive approach. These discharge limits are determined by the Three Basin Rule. If we exceed that limit, we will be fined by the federal and state governments. Under the federal Consent Decree, we are required to implement a permanent solution and are limited in issuing new land use permits for housing and businesses until we do. Read about the current development moratorium here.
Sandy is subject to more wastewater regulations than almost any other City in Oregon. The Three Basin Rule - a state drinking water regulation originally adopted in the 1970s and last amended in the 1990s - permanently caps the volume of effluent that can be discharged in the Clackamas, Santiam, and McKenzie river basins. Compliance with the Three Basin Rule raises the cost of our required capital improvements at least $60 million; a cost that shouldn’t be borne by a town of 13,000 residents for the benefit of over 300,000 downstream water customers. We continue to explore whether that rule can be amended, but the comprehensive approach being adopted by the city will mean sending our wastewater to Gresham so that it is no longer subject to the Three Basin Rule.
A big part of our work has been focused on reducing the amount of stormwater that ends up in our sewer system and then needs to be treated. As sewer pipes get older, they weaken, which allows rainwater and groundwater into the sewers that mix with wastewater. In wet weather our aging pipes get filled with groundwater and stormwater, resulting in flows that can overwhelm our treatment plant. Improving our sewer is helping reduce the wastewater load, particularly during the rainy season. We are also upgrading our existing wastewater plant to make sure it stays in compliance with state and federal regulations.
More people and businesses mean more wastewater, but the amount of treated wastewater we can discharge has been set since the 1990s by the Three Basin Rule. That limits the amount that can be discharged into the Clackamas, Santiam, and McKenzie river basins. So even though our population makes up a tiny fraction of the people that live in those basins, we are limited by how much treated wastewater we can discharge into them. Even if the City remains the same size, existing property owners would retain the right to add, develop, and expand their properties.
The final decision will be made by the city council and mayor elected by the people of Sandy. The voters are not being asked to raise taxes to pay for a bond or levy, so there will not be a separate measure to be approved on the ballot.
