Dog‑park fountain scaled back after DEQ rules; city to install spigot and concrete pad before July

Parks staff told the committee on May 21 that a planned drinking fountain at the dog park must be modified because Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regulations require drinking‑fountain drains to be plumbed to sanitary sewer.

Parks Superintendent Jonah Jacobson said the park does not have a nearby sanitary sewer connection, so the city cannot install the purchased fountain with a drain that would discharge to a swale. Instead, Jacobson said staff will install a concrete pad with a spigot and a dog bowl — a lower‑tech solution that DEQ permits because it does not collect water into a drain. Jacobson said a plumber is lined up and staff plan to complete the work before the end of the fiscal year (before July 1).

Committee members asked whether a shower‑style dog wash would require a sanitary drain; Jacobson said any fixture that collects liquid into a drain must be plumbed to sanitary sewer, so a ground‑dump spigot or shower that drains to the ground (not a drain) would be acceptable.

Jacobson said the fountain he had purchased will still be used at another park where sewer connections exist. The committee did not take a formal vote; staff described the regulatory constraint and the lower‑tech construction plan.