Port Orford is asking residents to voluntarily conserve water as low creek flows and sediment buildup reduce supplies in the city’s reservoir.
The city issued a statement Friday asking residents to avoid nonessential water use, including washing cars, pressure washing and watering lawns. Normal household water use can continue.
Less water is flowing into the reservoir on the North Fork of Hubbard Creek, while years of sediment buildup have reduced its storage capacity. Aging pipes and a water-treatment system that uses treated water to clean its filters add to the strain.
Mayor Ann Vileisis said residents can help by postponing unnecessary water use.
“I was out and about, and I noticed that a business was pressure washing their driveway,” Vileisis said. “It's great to keep things looking good, but at this time of year, we need to be very careful about our water use.”
The reservoir typically drops around this time of year, Vileisis said, but its diminished capacity means the city has less of a buffer when something goes wrong.
That happened last week when a water line broke on her street.
“I woke up in the morning and went to turn on my tap, and there was no water,” she said. “There was a leak on my street, and we lost probably about 30,000 gallons.”
The leak is part of a much larger problem. Vileisis said Port Orford loses about half of its water through aging pipes that regularly leak or break.
“They're old, leaky pipes. They're brittle,” she said. “It happens all over our community.”
The city is seeking roughly $6.7 million through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program to repair some of its leakiest water lines.
The Trump administration canceled the grant program in 2025, but a federal court ordered its restoration following a lawsuit brought by Oregon and other states. Vileisis said Port Orford remains in the running for funding.
The city is also planning upgrades to its aging water-treatment system.
Vileisis said the filtration system requires more frequent backwashing, a cleaning process that uses treated water and further reduces the amount available for customers.
The city is preparing to dredge the Hubbard Creek reservoir to restore storage capacity lost to sediment.
The project had been expected to begin in September but was delayed because a subcontractor needed time to complete a survey mapping the reservoir’s depths. Vileisis said the city now expects dredging to begin later this month.
For now, officials are monitoring reservoir levels and asking residents to avoid unnecessary water use. If supplies continue to fall, the city could move from voluntary conservation to mandatory restrictions.
