2023 Tacoma Water Highlights

Tacoma Water Superintendent, Scott Dewhirst

In August 2023, Atlanta-based packaging manufacturer WestRock Company announced the closure of the Tacoma paper mill effective September 30, 2023. This closure resulted in a $25 million annual revenue loss for Tacoma Public Utilities. The financial impact on Tacoma Water is significant, as WestRock usage accounted for approximately one-third of the overall daily drinking water use. The immediate nature of the revenue loss necessitated an additional rate adjustment, approved by the Tacoma Public Utility Board and Tacoma City Council in December 2023, effective January 1, 2024. As part of the WestRock rate increase, Tacoma Public Utilities provided enhanced residential assistance programs for qualifying customers. Tacoma Water also explored ways to reduce ongoing and future costs, including operational changes and the deferral of capital projects to support the rate adjustment. 

Development Stats

The development of new residential, commercial, multifamily, and industrial services in our service area returned to steady, average statistical levels in 2023, following a record-breaking year in 2022, which was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic environment and common national trends marked by low interest rates. After Tacoma Water’s record-breaking development statistics in 2022, interest rates began to rise after a significant surge in inflation in 2023. Our water utility subsequently experienced customers who wanted fast-tracked projects for completion and others who took a wait-and-see approach. This led to a reduction in new service transactions and a return to normal, steady pre-pandemic statistical levels in the development of new residential, commercial, multifamily, and industrial services in our service area. Water continued to support developer demands to construct single-family home communities, warehouse storage, residential homes, and multifamily apartments.  

The statistics below highlight the typically strong Puget Sound region’s economic development and housing demand: 

• Sold half of our water service stubs in 2023, with 557, after setting a record high for the past decade. Inventory and supply chain issues improved in 2023, and we completed all projects on time.
• Water meter sales saw a noticeable bump this past year over the drastic drop in 2022, likely supporting the final phase of new home construction for many residential plats completed the year prior. 
• Progressed on improvements that enhance our processes and customer experience due to relief from record-breaking new water services. Based on developer survey results, we updated our Tacoma Water Construction and Development web pages on MyTPU.org as well as other communications, overall process efficiency, and online forms/applications. 
• Reduced requests for new, larger water services by 30%. The number of Time and Materials estimates created was 248 (49 residential, 73 multifamily, 126 commercial), with the leading category flipping to commercial this year. 
• Reviewed and commented on 1,596 development permits and responded to 229 utility-related public disclosure requests, matching the steady trends of commercial and multifamily development from years past after a brief dip in 2022. 
• Added over 10.9 miles of new distribution mains to the system from 23 private contracts, which returned to the typical levels following the COVID-19 pandemic development spike of 2022. Three-quarters of the projects were residential developments, with the other categories comprising commercial, warehouse, and school projects. 

Outreach Activities

Water conservation allows us to plan and provide for residential and commercial development, only take the water needed from reservoirs and wells, and leave water in the river for fish and wildlife. The conservation program offers a variety of resources to customers throughout the year: 

• Mailed 997 water savings kits directly to customers at no cost, which helped us better equitably serve our community. The number of kits was up 30% from 2022, helping us reach our annual goal of 1,000.
• Improved communication supporting the 25% increase in smart irrigation controller rebates, a bit shy of our annual goal of 100. We also mailed 695 custom water savings kits to customers and 62 paperless rebates for smart irrigation controllers. 
• Renewed our Commercial Kitchen Appliance Rebate program on water-efficient EnergyStar-certified models successfully. 
• Held 44 community engagement events, program presentations, and youth education in 12 unique zip codes, reaching over 6,600 community members. The largest event, the annual Sound to Narrows run/walk, had approximately 3,500 participants.  
• Extended financial assistance through our Water Service Line Grant and Loan program to replace 30 leaking residential water service lines for a total of $238.9k in repair funds, resulting in calculated water savings of over 64M gallons. 11 of those service line replacements included grant funds for income-eligible households. The program also contributed to the successful enrollment of at least 14 new enrollees in our income-based utility payment assistance program. 
• Deployed an option to enroll in our paperless water leak notifications on the MyAccount customer portal in October 2023. Customers can now choose their preferred communication – text and/or email – to receive notice when the advanced meter detects continuous water use over 24 hours. 

We host and participate in many community outreach events to develop a workforce reflective of our community. By making the community aware of current career opportunities, we seek to generate interest in water utility career paths and create a diverse talent pipeline for the future. Events in 2023 included the Apprenticeship Expo, Women in Trades, and TPU Academy with the Boys and Girls Club, where we shared information about interesting and unique career paths. Participants engaged with current employees and received demonstrations and hands-on experiences. 

Projects

• Completed project planning work such as project guidelines and templates, a planning process, a document library to store the documents and staff training. 
• Revised and adopted Chapter 12: Water, part of Tacoma’s Right-of-Way Design Manual, as a Water Design Standard. 
• Installed a 5th pump in Prairie Ridge Pump Station to increase pumping capacity 
• Completed system operation changes to mitigate the impact of the WestRock closure 
• Completed seven long-term planning studies to analyze our system’s future needs, including the Headworks Master Plan, 251 Pressure Zone analysis, and Tehaleh Pressure Zone analysis. 
• Relocated our Water Control Center to the Tacoma Public Utilities Administrative Building South 
• Shut down and inspected Pipeline 5 to understand manganese issues better. 
• Shut down operational planning conducted at the North End Transmission Pipeline, Hood Street, Pipeline 5, Hood Street, Portland Ave Reservoir, Prairie Ridge Pump station, and Pipeline 2. 
• Dealt with Pipeline 5 meter issues and 356th operations changes (Covington/Kent meter replacement and gasket, Lake Haven, 356th pump station). 
• Conducted a post-processing write-up about our Water Yield Supply & Demand Model 
• Improved short-term demand forecasting 
• Upgraded and operated our Hood Street Generator and Control System 

Environmental Stewardship

We commit to looking after the region’s beautiful natural resources. With help from our valued partners, we take great care to preserve, protect, and restore resources while maintaining and delivering services. 

We provide clean, reliable water while preserving and enhancing wildlife habitats. Healthy forests and clean water are directly connected. In addition, we protect 32 fish and wildlife species by following numerous conservation, monitoring, and research measures through water flow management, fish and wildlife habitat enhancement, and forest and land management. 

Key efforts in 2023 to ensure the health of our watershed: 

• Replaced 10 failing culverts along one of our mainline roads into the watershed. Six of those culverts restored fish passage on streams, and the remaining four improved road drainage and reduced sediment input to streams. 
• Continued work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete the design and construction of the downstream fish passage facility at the Howard Hanson Dam. 
• Received a King County Conservation Futures reimbursable grant to buy 580 acres of land within the Green River Municipal Watershed to help protect our source water and fish and wildlife habitats. 
• Constructed a new greenhouse at our native plant nursery to increase our ability to propagate plants used in habitat restoration projects within the watershed. 

Conclusion

We continue to prioritize the health of our community by improving infrastructure, protecting the watershed, and strengthening our workforce. This will ensure we fulfill our mission to provide clean, reliable water for generations. 

2023 Tacoma Water Finacial Report 
2023 Tacoma Water Financial Highlights