How Seal Rock Water District Is Planning for Resilience
S
eal Rock Water District (SRWD) provides water to several thousand yearly and seasonal residents of the Oregon coast. With a newly installed smart water grid, it is a technologically advanced district that has sharply reduced water waste and demand. Moreover, SRWD is thinking about the future. As it builds a new water intake to increase its resilience and independence, it is designing it to be resilient to potential earthquakes and tsunamis. In this interview, SRWD General Manager Adam Denlinger tells Municipal Water Leader about his district’s water sources and infrastructure; the usefulness of its intertie with the Newport, Oregon, system; and its plans for the future. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
14 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about SRWD. Adam Denlinger: SRWD is one of the largest municipal water districts on the Oregon coast, although we’re still considered a small community water district. SWRD was formed in 1956 through the merger of some small districts in this region. We serve an area of about 12½ square miles between Waldport and Newport. We maintain 65 miles of piping and about 3 million gallons of stored treated water, and we do a volume of about 95 million gallons a year in water sales. We have 2,595 service connections. We serve a population about 5,500 static residents, and in the summer months, tourism brings the population closer to 8,000. We also support service to fire districts within our boundaries. We maintain the system in operation with nine employees.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LITTLE MOUNTAIN 5.
Adam Denlinger: I have a 36-year career working for the water and wastewater departments of municipal governments, serving both large and small communities in Texas, California and Oregon. I studied the principles of water and wastewater management at Sacramento State University, California. I began working for a municipal agency 36 years ago in Tyler, Texas. I spent a number of years there and really enjoyed working to provide essential services. I moved from there to California, where I spent several years working for a few larger cities in their water and wastewater or public works departments. In 2006, I moved to Oregon to manage the public works department of the City of Toledo, a small community in this region. About 7 years ago, I took the role of general manager of SRWD. Over the course of my career, I have been
responsible for managing numerous complex government programs and infrastructure projects related to municipal water and wastewater uses. I have served in collaborative roles with multiple agencies to provide beneficial, costsaving outcomes related to joint service agreements and regional municipal improvements. I serve on the board and the legislative committee of the Special Districts Association of Oregon and am a coconvener of the Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership. I hold state registration in water and wastewater in both Oregon and California. Water is important to me not just because it’s essential to life, but because I genuinely believe that everyone should have access to clean, reliable, safe drinking water and sanitation. It is a basic human right.
