Source Water Protection

Protecting the region's drinking water is one of your water provider's top priorities.

Water providers take great care to protect your drinking water at its source. This keeps the region’s drinking water safe and available today and into the future. Providing safe and reliable drinking water starts at each water source and continues until it reaches your home or business.

How water providers are protecting local drinking water sources:

The Consortium's 25 water provider members began working together in 1997 to protect the many drinking water sources in the greater Portland, Oregon metro region. They do this today by:

Advocating for legislation and rules that improves water quality and protects local watersheds
Working with partner agencies on water quality issues
Educating the public about simple ways to protect water at the source through the Clean Water. It's Our Future. media campaign

This keeps our region’s water some of the safest and most dependable in the country.

How each of the region's five main water sources are being protected:

The Bull Run Watershed serves nearly one million people in Portland and the greater metro region. Generations of lawmakers, City staff, and community members have worked to protect Bull Run.
The Clackamas River serves nearly 300,000 people in Clackamas and Washington Counties. The Drinking Water Protection Plan developed by Clackamas River Water Providers (CRWP) guides source water protection for this watershed.
The Trask & Tualatin Rivers serve more than 470,000 people in Washington County. The Tualatin River Watershed Council, Tualatin Riverkeepers, and Clean Water Services are a few of the organizations that work to protect these rivers.
The Willamette River currently serves the local Cities of Sherwood and Wilsonville. In the next few years, it will also supply water to the Cities of Hillsboro and Beaverton and Tualatin Valley Water District. Read about how the Willamette River Water Coalition and Willamette Riverkeeper are helping to protect the river.
Groundwater is the main or secondary water source for seven of the Consortium’s 25 members. Read about Portland’s Groundwater Protection Program and the joint Groundwater Protection Program managed by the Cities of Gresham, Portland, and Fairview.

For more information about regional source water protection, read the Consortium’s Source Water Protection Plan (PDF). Find out what you can do to protect your drinking water at the source with these 10 tips.

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