Green Area Water & Sanitary Authority (GAWSA) is a local municipality (special district) formed to provide potable water and sanitary sewer service to the residents of the Green District of Roseburg and nearby outlying areas such as Roberts Creek, Glengary Loop, and McClain Avenue.

GOVERNANCE

GAWSA operates under the Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 450 Joint Authorities, and the Authority's adopted ordinances.  The government of the Authority consists of a 5-member Board of Directors elected by you, the Authority's constituents, to serve a 4-year term. 

DISTRICT HISTORY

When the District was first formed in 1937, it was intended to serve a small area around Roberts Creek Road.  Cooper Spring, the beginning of Roberts Creek, was to be the main source of water, thus giving the District the name of Roberts Creek Water District.  Over time other residents of an area later to known as the Green District, expressed an interest in being annexed into the Water District.  It was then decided that the South Umpqua River would be a more constant and reliable source of water to serve the larger area.

The original plant and reservoir and main reservoir constructed in 1948 were replaced with a 2.5 million gallons-per-day treatment plant in 1975.  That plant reached capacity in 1990, resulting in a moratorium on new services.  A major plant upgrade was completed in 1994.

The plant underwent its most recent upgrade in 2011-12 to provide additional water capacity and to meet the much more stringent state and federal treatment standards required for using the South Umpqua River source. The plant can currently pump 3.75 million gallons per day and has growth potential to be outfitted to pump up to 8 MGD as future need dictates.

The District's treatment plant is located off Grange Road on the South Umpqua River.