EPA Announces $123 Million WIFIA Loan to Lake Oswego for the Project

On September 9, 2025, the City of Lake Oswego closed (executed) a $123 million loan from the US Environmental Protection Agency for the Wastewater Treatment Facility project through the Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act (WIFIA) program.

EPA’s announcement shared: “This project will help the city modernize its wastewater infrastructure by constructing a new wastewater treatment facility to replace its existing 60-year-old plant. The new facility will be compliant with current structural code, mitigating impacts from seismic activity. Overall, this project improves the city’s wastewater services and reduces the risk of untreated wastewater spilling into the Willamette River.”

“Deferring principal payments for five years allows the City of Lake Oswego to more slowly and uniformly raise customer sewer rates, compared to a larger and more immediate rate increase of approximately 20 percent without WIFIA financing.”

Read the EPA announcement and factsheet.

Request for Proposals for Designing, Building, Operating and Maintaining New Facility

The City of Lake Oswego has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide integrated design, construction, and long-term operations and maintenance services for the new wastewater treatment facility and associated infrastructure to replace the current Tryon Creek plant.

WIFIA Loan Authorization

On August 5th, the Lake Oswego City Council authorized a loan through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. A link to the Council Report is here.  This loan provides flexibility to the project’s funding portfolio which also includes utility revenue, cost share payments from the City of Portland, System Development Charges (SDCs), and traditional municipal bonds. The WIFIA loan provides benefits that enable utility rate stability, which has been a point of emphasis for this project.

Learn more about the WIFIA program here.

Next Steps

Once a proposal is selected later this year, the project team plans to hold a meeting to share the final designs with the community and continue land use permitting. Demolition and preliminary construction are expected to start in 2026.