The City of Chiloquin currently relies on one well, Well No. 1 located near City Hall as the primary water supply for the city and has seen a steady decline in the production from this main water source. The City does also has the capability to use water from Well No. 2 located near Spinks Park, but has not used it since 1982 due to extensive sand, taste, and odor issues resulting from the water that is pumped at this well.
Well No. 1 which was drilled in 1940 has the approximate production capacity of 650 gallons per minute and feeds an above ground welded steel gallon reservoir with a capacity of 500,000 gallons. As part of the 2016 Waster Master Plan submitted by Adkins Consulting Engineering to the City of Chiloquin, several options were provided as an additional water supply source to meet the needs of the community and provide redundancy for the City. The City has not completed any major water system improvements since the early 1990s when it constructed the 500,000 gallon reservoir.
The City Council decided to move forward with the recommended option to construct a new well on the west side of the river. The primary choice for the new well location is the distance from the river being more than 1 mile, that puts the well outside of the restricted water usage issue with the current well. As well as a potential for future growth of the community water distribution system. This new well would need to have similar capacity to the existing Well No. 1. The new well will be drilled down to a depth of 1700 feet (same as Well No. 1) to reach the lower confined aquifer so that it will not impact the upper unconfined aquifer used by other wells throughout the community (see picture below). For more information regarding aquifers and groundwater, click on the link below for the USGS website.
The City submitted an application for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from Business Oregon who administers these grants for the State of Oregon that can be used to fund projects such as public works infrastructure including water and wastewater treatment plants.
Project Update - December 2023
Recent activities for the new well includes the fully executed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) agreement that completes the project funding, and the posting for a grant administrator for the CDBG grant. It is anticipated that the City will break ground by summer for the new well. Once the new well is online, approximately 18-24 months later, the existing well will be rebuilt from the ground up.
Project Update - August 2023
The city's Environmental Assessment for the project has been accepted and approved.
Project Update - July 2022
At the end of July 2022, the City of Chiloquin received a conditional approval for their Community Development Block Grant from Business Oregon for $2,500,000 to build the new well. Over the next couple of months the agreement between Business Oregon and the City of Chiloquin will be completed and then the city will submit the project out to bid.
Check back here for any additional information regarding this new water well project for the City of Chiloquin.
