Clean Water Services (CWS) is a public utility with responsibility to protect water resources in the Tualatin River Watershed in Washington County, Oregon. CWS serves nearly 500,000 customers, providing innovative wastewater and stormwater services, flood management projects, water quality and stream enhancement projects, and fish habitat protection. The CWS service area includes most of the urbanized portions of Washington County.
As a result of a lawsuit filed under the Clean Water Act in the late 1980’s and the settlement agreement, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was required to establish total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for the Tualatin River. The Tualatin River was one of the first water bodies in the country to receive a specific TMDL and became a test case for the implementation of measures to meet the TMDL. As the entity responsible for wastewater and surface water management in the basin, CWS was required to modify its operations as required to meet the TMDL. Prior to the settlement, CWS involvement in the management of stormwater was minimal, and was limited primarily to minor maintenance of the existing conveyance system.
Shortly after the settlement was agreed to, Mr. Gorman was hired to serve as the Water Resource Program Manager for surface water issues. He sat on the CWS internal Stormwater Management (SWM) Committee established to create, build, and guide the newly formed stormwater utility service. The SWM committee wrote and modified the ordinances and code that would define the management, operations, and funding of the stormwater utility. Mr. Gorman served as project manager, stormwater utility planner, NPDES permit application specialist, and managing engineer for the surface water management functions of CWS in its effort to meet the TMDLs.