One Water: Integrating Water, Sewer, and Stormwater Services

What is One Water?

One Water is an integrated and holistic approach to water management that views all forms of water—whether from the tap, a waterway, stormwater, or wastewater—as interconnected. It emphasizes collaboration, inclusivity, and sustainability to ensure safe, affordable, and reliable water and sanitation services for all communities. The approach delivers better social, economic, and environmental outcomes than traditional administration models by optimizing investments, improving governance structures, developing and supporting our workforce, and strengthening resilience against climate impacts and other threats.

Why it matters

Portland’s water resources face increasing challenges: aging infrastructure, rising operational costs, limited capital funding sources, regulatory impacts, and climate and seismic risks. 

The One Water approach ensures that Portland’s water systems are managed efficiently, equitably, and sustainably. This model builds on existing successes to enhance the City's ability to:

• Safeguard clean drinking water from the Bull Run Watershed and Columbia South Shore Well Field while integrating long-term supply management strategies.
• Reduce flooding and pollution by improving stormwater management in the public right-of-way and on private property through green infrastructure, such as green streets and natural areas, and grey infrastructure, such as pipes, pumps, and treatment facilities.
• Enhance wastewater treatment to protect local rivers and streams while recovering resources.
• Improve resilience to climate change by preparing for drought, extreme heat, and shifting precipitation patterns.
• Support community health and equity by ensuring safe, affordable water services for all Portlanders.
• Strengthen and diversify the workforce by expanding recruitment, training, and career advancement programs, ensuring equitable access to opportunities, and preparing for future workforce needs.

Identified key actions

Portland is already successfully enacting many elements of One Water. A consultant report delivered in October 2024 outlines recommendations for how the City can integrate a One Water approach into existing Public Works functions and services.

You can view the report here: 

• One Water Leadership and Governance
  • Creating a leadership team to oversee One Water efforts and ensure collaboration across city departments.
  • Aligning One Water strategies with broader city planning efforts, such as infrastructure investment and climate initiatives.
  • Establishing clear policies and governance structures to support the long-term integration of One Water goals.
• Integrated Infrastructure Management and Strategic Planning
  • Coordinating water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure investments through a Unified Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to improve system reliability, resilience, and efficiency.
  • Integrating capital planning across bureaus to ensure cost-effective maintenance, upgrades, and new infrastructure investments that support long-term sustainability.
  • Investing in infrastructure projects that enhance climate resilience, improve service reliability, and ensure equitable access to high-quality water services for all communities.
• Equitable Service Delivery and Workforce Development
  • Strengthening programs to recruit and retain a diverse workforce for water-related jobs.
  • Expanding financial assistance programs to make water and sewer services more affordable for households.
  • Directing infrastructure investments to historically underserved communities to ensure equitable access to water services.
• Public Engagement and Communications
  • Improving communication strategies to help the public understand and support Portland’s water systems.
  • Enhancing coordination between different city departments to align messaging and outreach efforts.
  • Promoting education campaigns to highlight the importance of water and associated essential services.

Work completed 

Since October 2024, when Portland completed the One Water Feasibility Study, we have:

• Created a Strong Leadership Team: We formed a One Water Leadership Team with leaders from Environmental Services, Transportation, and Water Bureau. We also created a Project Management Team to support this work.
• Completed a Functions Inventory: We identified all key functions across our bureaus and found areas for better teamwork, including:
  • Affordability programs
  • Capital improvement projects
  • Emergency management
  • Maintenance systems
• Launched Integrated Capital Planning: With nearly $1 billion in capital projects annually, we're creating a unified approach to managing infrastructure across all Public Works bureaus.
• Strengthened Seismic Resilience: For over ten years, we've been preparing our infrastructure for earthquakes, and we've assessed many water, wastewater, and stormwater systems for earthquake risks.
• Enhanced Climate Resilience: We're preparing for climate risks like heat waves, drought, wildfires, and flooding and are updating our climate assessments in 2026 as part of the City's broader planning. Our work includes:
  • Assessing vulnerabilities in all our systems
  • Designing climate-smart infrastructure
  • Reducing carbon emissions
  • Creating solutions that protect vulnerable communities first
• Improved Natural Resources Management: We're working with Parks & Recreation and the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability on the natural resource service delivery project that will help us protect natural resources while building climate resilience.
• Started Addressing Services Affordability: We're creating a five-year Joint Affordability Strategy focused on:
  • Improving rate structures
  • Offering flexible payment options
  • Using data to improve assistance programs
  • Controlling costs through new technologies
  • Working with community partners
• Delivered More Equitable Services: We're making our services more accessible to all Portlanders through:
  • A Public Works Procurement Day to connect contractors with upcoming projects
  • Monthly anti-racism strategy sessions
  • A Fair Contracting Forum with community stakeholders
  • Shared data tools to measure equity in our work
  • Targeted investments in areas of highest need
  • Regular evaluation of service levels across neighborhoods

Looking ahead

The City of Portland is committed to advancing One Water as a guiding principle for water management. This long-term approach will continue to shape infrastructure investments, environmental stewardship, and climate adaptation efforts. This webpage will be updated as the One Water initiative advances.