EWEB

Advocates Ask Feds to Make EWEB Consider Volitional Fish Passage at Trail Bridge Dam

April 22, 2026 by Noah Angell

The Trail Bridge dam sits at the end of the frame. The dark blue water of the Mckenzie runs with green trees on the shore.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2026 Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, (541)-534-1463 Jennifer Fairbrother, Native Fish Society Lindsey Hutchison, Willamette Riverkeeper Eugene, OR — Today, on Earth Day, Advocates submitted a petition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting a cost and viability comparison of volitional passage at the Trail Bridge Dam on the McKenzie River, and interim improvements … Read more

Eugene Water and Electric Board Violating Endangered Species Act

February 3, 2026March 17, 2025 by Claire Barber

Today, conservation organizations filed suit against the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) alleging ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). For over sixteen years, the public utility has been out of legal compliance with federal requirements to provide proper fish passage for ESA-listed Chinook salmon and bull trout at the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project and Trail Bridge Dam on the famed McKenzie River.

Press Release: Eugene Water and Electric Board’s Unanimously Votes to Decommission Leaburg Hydroelectric Project on the McKenzie River

February 19, 2026January 4, 2023 by Josh

January 4, 2023 — Following years of extensive research, analysis, and outreach, the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) Commission voted unanimously to initiate a plan to decommission the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project on the McKenzie River at its January 3 meeting. The Board of Commissioners formally approved EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson’s December 6 recommendations to decommission the project, which discontinued electricity generation in 2018, and remove the aging Leaburg Dam.

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