Episode 35: "Hydro Hogs" (Sophie Peel)

Willamette Week Podcast

In this episode of the Dive, we discuss Sophie Peel's cover story. Sophie wrote this week's leading story all about the 20 people in Portland who use the most water. We talk about these so-called "hydro hogs" and the state of Portland's water system. We also talk about the failing attempt to impeach Mayor Wheeler and go over the biggest stories of the week.
Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoy, and please join us again next week!
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CORRECTION VIA EMAIL FROM PORTLAND WATER BUREAU
First, Sophie, you mention CCLs, but you mean CCFs, which stand for centum cubic feet or one hundred cubic feet.

Also, you mention titrated (tiered) rates. You say that people pay one rate for zero to 100 CCFs and more for over 100 CCFs. The Portland Water Bureau does not have a tiered rate structure.

You also mention that Portland is served by the Willamette and Columbia rivers. The Portland Water Bureau does not serve drinking water from the Willamette or Columbia rivers! The Columbia South Shore Well Field is our groundwater system, which sources water from deep underground using wells near the Columbia River. The Columbia River is hydrologically connected to the aquifers that provide our drinking water. This does helps protect the aquifers from the kinds of water level declines that are happening in some other areas of the West like California and Arizona. But we don’t drink from either surface water sources. The Bull Run watershed is primarily rain water.