Community Partnership

The MWMC is a cooperative community partnership. By sharing resources and responsibilities, the MWMC streamlines services, maximizes investment, and meets or exceeds environmental quality regulation. All of this benefits each of our partners (cities of Eugene and Springfield and Lane County) while improving the quality of life in our community.

Lane County and the cities of Eugene and Springfield function collectively to provide our area with safe water.

Mission: To protect our community’s health and the environment by providing high-quality wastewater services to the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area in partnership with Eugene, Springfield and Lane County.

Vision: The MWMC will be recognized as a leader in protecting water quality through sustainable and fiscally responsible practices.

Values Statement: The MWMC strives to provide high-quality services that achieve, sustain and promote balance between community, environmental and economic needs while meeting customer service expectations.

Values
Clean Water
Protecting Community Health
Providing Excellent Customer Service
Sustain Environmental Stewardship
Collaboration with Partners
Maintaining Fiscal Responsibility

Strategic Plan
The MWMC embarked on a strategic planning process in early 2020, developing a Strategic Plan for 2020-2024. The plan outlines the MWMC’s key outcomes as they relate to our Mission, Vision and Values, along with the MWMC’s foundation of a successful intergovernmental partnership. The MWMC continues to implement the strategic plan in conjunction with the performance indicators included in the Regional Wastewater Program Budget and Capital Improvements Plan.

Read our Annual Report

City of Eugene

The City of Eugene operates and maintains the regional wastewater facilities, which includes the treatment plant, the Biosolids Management Facility, the Biocycle Farm, the Beneficial Reuse Site, the pump stations and the transmission sewers. In addition, major equipment replacement, infrastructure rehabilitation programs, and laboratory services are also managed by the City of Eugene.

City of Springfield

Administration of the MWMC is provided by the City of Springfield. This includes legal and risk management services, financial management and accounting, budget and rate development, public policy development, intergovernmental coordination, and public education. The City of Springfield also provides long-range capital planning, design, and construction management.

Both cities have Industrial Pretreatment Programs that work closely with each other.

Key Outcomes

As part of the MWMC’s Regional Wastewater Program Budget planning process, key outcomes are identified to focus annual work plan and budget priorities. The Fiscal Year 2022-2023 work plans and budget reflect a focus on the following key outcomes or goals. In carrying out the daily activities of managing the regional wastewater system for the protection of our community’s health and environment, we will strive to:

  1. Achieve and maintain high environmental standards.
  2. Achieve and maintain fiscal management that is effective and efficient.
  3. Achieve and maintain a successful intergovernmental partnership.
  4. Maximize reliability and useful life of regional assets and infrastructure.
  5. Achieve and maintain public awareness and understanding of MWMC, the regional wastewater system, and MWMC’s objectives of maintaining water quality and a sustainable environment.

To learn more about each of our key outcomes and how they align with and contribute to our mission, vision, and values, collapse each drop-down below, or check out our Key Outcomes one pagers.

Our first key outcome is to achieve and maintain high environmental standards. 

Achieving and maintaining high environmental standards is of the utmost importance to everyone working on behalf of the MWMC. In fact, the MWMC’s vision is to lead water quality protection through sustainable and fiscally responsible practices. This is incredibly important, as the wastewater treatment facility cleans nearly 11 billion gallons of wastewater each year to the highest environmental standards before safely returning the cleaned water back to the Willamette River.

To achieve these high standards, the MWMC consistently meets and exceeds requirements set forth by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. In addition to exceeding stringent water quality requirements, the MWMC consistently produces biosolids, a material useful as a fertilizer for agriculture, with pollutant concentrations less than 50% of the exceptional criterial category as set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, the MWMC prioritizes recovering resources from the wastewater treatment process to maximize sustainability efforts, and strives to continually improve environmental performance through a certified ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.

Key Outcome 1 one-pager

Our second key outcome is effective and efficient fiscal management.

The MWMC is committed to providing high quality wastewater services using fiscally responsible practices. Wastewater services are essential for public health and the environment, and our team works hard to make sure they are affordable for both our residential and commercial customers. The MWMC’s Financial Plan guides our budgetary policies, and the MWMC administrative team ensures the annual budget and rates align with that plan.

The regional wastewater treatment rates charged to both Eugene and Springfield customers, when combined with local fees, are below average compared to other wastewater utilities in Oregon. The MWMC meticulously plans any regional rate adjustments needed, so that they are moderate and incremental, and to avoid rate hikes. We consistently fund our reserves at target levels, and the MWMC holds an uninsured bond rating of AA.

To continually ensure economical use of funds, the MWMC has an annual audit of our financial records.

Key Outcome 2 one-pager

Our third key outcome is to achieve and maintain a successful intergovernmental partnership between the City of Eugene, City of Springfield, and Lane County.   

Achieving and maintaining a successful intergovernmental partnership is at the core of what makes up the MWMC and is the foundational pillar of the MWMC’s Strategic Plan. Working together, the three governing bodies of Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County formed the MWMC in 1977 to treat wastewater on a regional basis. The MWMC has been doing just that since the wastewater treatment plant came online in 1984. The Commission itself is made up of elected officials and representatives from the three governing bodies and makes decisions with regional partnerships in mind.

In addition to partnerships with the governing bodies, the MWMC prioritizes community partnerships with environmental groups, businesses, state government, watershed councils, farmers, and more. To learn more about the MWMC’s partnerships check out our MWMC Partnership Video. In addition to interagency coordination and implementing regulatory requirements in a consistent manner across the region, the MWMC will be assessing partnership health through an assessment tool with the governing bodies this fiscal year.

Key Outcome 3 one-pager  

Our fourth key outcome is to maximize reliability and useful life of regional assets and infrastructure.

The MWMC is able to provide high-quality wastewater services by having reliable and resilient regional assets and infrastructure. This is accomplished by employing industry best practices in asset management, strategic budgeting, and a computerized maintenance management system.

Through coordinated maintenance activities and capital planning efforts, the MWMC continues to make sound investments to construct and upgrade facilities to meet anticipated growth in our service area.

Key Outcome 4 one-pager

Our fifth key outcome is for public awareness and understanding of the MWMC, the regional wastewater system, and the MWMC’s objectives of water quality and sustainability.

The MWMC’s Communications Team works to raise awareness of the MWMC by engaging ratepayers, partner agencies, and the broader community on the MWMC’s mission and related sustainability efforts. The team also educates stakeholders on how they can contribute to protecting our waterways.

This work is important because it builds trust amongst community members and partners in the MWMC’s ability to consistently provide high-quality wastewater services and protect our community’s health and environment. Outreach and education efforts also drive positive behavior change that helps prevent pollution to our waterways and extends the life of our community’s shared wastewater infrastructure.

The MWMC’s outreach efforts are guided by our 2021 Communications Plan, which outlines our goals, objectives, target audience, and specific strategies and tactics to reach them. The plan has been developed and updated based on several rounds of market research and analytics.

Key Outcome 5 one-pager

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