Bellevue Utilities is hosting a community meeting with information on the Meydenbauer South Reservoir project. We will discuss the project progress, timeline and community impact. This is a good time for community members to ask the project team questions and provide feedback.
When: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024
Time: 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Where: Bellevue City Hall, Council Chambers
Project Need
Reservoirs are storage tanks used for drinking water, storing water for firefighting, buffering strain on the water supply system during peak demands, and allowing for continuous service during brief supply shutdowns. As the population grows, Bellevue needs to be able to store more water. Based on regulations and industry standards, the City will need additional reservoir volume by 2030 to serve anticipated growth in downtown, Bel-Red and other areas.
Project Location
Starting in May 2022, the City considered four neighborhoods—shown in the map below—for the new water reservoir. The City implemented a process for the evaluation and ultimate selection of one of these neighborhoods based on the following criteria:
- Technical feasibility
- Community benefits and impacts
- Operational impacts
- Costs
- And other factors
In December 2023, the Meydenbauer neighborhood location was selected for the following reasons:
- Bellevue Utilities owns the property.
- The size of the property can accommodate a large reservoir that will be needed to support future growth.
- The location is geographically close to where additional water storage is forecasted to be needed.
- The neighborhood supports a new reservoir at this location (based on it being a fully buried reservoir in order to preserve the current open space of the property).
- The location is favorable from a system operation/redundancy standpoint.
Project Scope
The scope of the project will include not only the new reservoir, but also a new pump station building next to the reservoir, and several thousand linear feet of transmission water main to transport water from the reservoir into the existing water distribution system.
Project Update (Oct. 2024)
The following planning and design work has been completed or is currently in progress:
- Topographic survey was done to create a base map for developing the proposed design.
- Geotechnical (soil and groundwater) investigation to design and construct the proposed reservoir and pump station structures.
- Existing utilities investigation to design the proposed facilities and determine what, if any, existing utilities are in the way.
- Evaluate design parameters to define the size, configuration, and alignment of the proposed reservoir structure, pump station building and transmission main.
- Developed a public outreach plan to communicate project need, progress and impact to the neighborhood and affected community.
- Host regular community meetings to update and discuss the project.
Project Timeline*
- Preliminary Design: Spring 2024 to Spring 2025
- Final Design/Permitting: Summer 2025 to Spring 2027
- Construction: Summer 2027 to Spring 2030
*Subject to change.
Location Selection Timeline
Initial Engagement: May-July 2022
- Walk-and-talks or small meetings with neighbors of potential sites
- Collecting comments/feedback from neighbors via paper and electronic forms
- Feedback was used in the development of criteria for evaluating alternatives.
Alternatives Identification and Analysis: July 2022 - January 2023
- Follow-up emails to community members
- Collecting comments/feedback from neighbors via paper and electronic forms
- Feedback updated our understanding of community interests and priorities.
Alternatives Evaluation: November 2022 - January 2023
- Community-wide survey
- Online Open House
- Feedback informed the City's evaluation and selection of a preferred option. View recording of the Online Open House:
Alternatives Evaluation and Selection: March - December 2023
- Launch web-based storymap with interactive maps and digital content
- Follow-up emails to community members
- Additional evaluation centered on updated criteria regarding future projected growth within the City
Final Decision on Site Selection: December 2023
Meydenbauer location selected.
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