Stormwater Fees 

What is stormwater?

Stormwater is runoff from hard surfaces in urban areas that must be channeled to prevent flooding, protected or treated to remove contaminants, and finally returned back to our rivers.  Developed properties in Eugene pay stormwater fees to support services that provide clean water, flood protection and healthy habitat for fish and wildlife. 


Water from your roof or lawn picks up oil from cars, sediment, bacteria, grease, and other chemicals associated with urban life. Instead of going into the ground—Mother Nature’s natural filter—those contaminants are carried through our storm pipes and go directly into the Amazon Creek or Willamette River.  To help protect our valuable clean water resources and to meet strict water quality regulations set by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Eugene’s City Council adopted a stormwater management plan (SWMP) in 1993 that provides the framework for assessing all properties in Eugene for the cost of managing this system.


Billing Agent

The City of Eugene adopts and administers the stormwater and wastewater service fees. The Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) acts only as the City's billing agent per City Charter. To start or stop service, questions about water or electric fees, or if you have general billing questions please contact EWEB.


Select a heading below for additional information about stormwater.

Keeping Water Clean

With more than 170,000 people in Eugene, there are a lot of extra contaminants funneled to the river from impervious (non-porous) surfaces. City staff uses stormwater fees to help mitigate contaminants of the runoff by providing services such as street sweeping, removing sediment from the storm drain system, and building and maintaining rain gardens. A functioning stormwater system also reduces the risk of flooding


The stormwater system includes over 600 miles of enclosed pipes and other constructed features such as catch basins, curb inlets, and over 300 "green infrastructure" facilities—a combination of constructed and natural vegetated features such as planters, swales, wetlands, streams, rivers, and open channels. Rainwater that does not soak into the ground runs off the land and is conveyed by the stormwater system to local area waterways such as Amazon Creek and the Willamette River. 


How your stormwater fees are used every year:

  • Clean over 8,500 catch basins and curb inlets
  • Collect and recycle over 12,000 cubic yards of leaves
  • Eliminate illegal discharges and spills into the stormwater system
  • Sweep more than 30,000 curb miles of streets
  • Provide stormwater education to students in both school districts
  • Protect, restore, and maintain streams, rivers, and wetlands
  • Planting over 600 trees along local streams and rivers
  • Maintain 468 public rain gardens
  • Oversee over 1,500 private rain gardens
  • Remove garbage from streams and the banks of the Willamette River
  • Improve rainfall runoff management in developed areas
  • Replace public drywells to protect groundwater quality
  • Administer clean water regulations for construction sites, industries, and new development
  • Plant, preserve, and maintain street trees and median vegetation
  • Monitor water quality in our local waterways through sampling and data analysis