In case you are not already thoroughly convinced that Corvallis, Oregon is a truly livable, accomplished city, see the short summary below of facts you may not be aware of.
Green power
According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency report on its “green power communities,”Corvallis buys more power from renewable resources than any other city in the nation. Corvallis purchases more than 100 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which amounts to 13 percent of the city’s total purchased electricity.
2008: A September 2008 report revealed that Benton County, of which Corvallis makes up the majority of the population, is ranked 5th for longest life expectancy at birth of all counties in the United States, at 80.93 years.[61]
2008: Corvallis is ranked among the top 20 towns to live in by Outside magazine.[58]
2008: Country Home magazine ranked Corvallis the best Green Place to Live in America.[58]
2008, 2009: Farmers Insurance Group of Companies ranked Corvallis the #1 Most Secure Place to Live.[58]
2009: In 2009, Corvallis High School won $20,000 in sustainability contest "America's Most Eco-Friendly School".[62]
2009: The United States Environmental Protection Agency ranked Corvallis as #1 Green Power Community in the nation, defined by the amount of green energy purchased per capita.[58]
2011: In April 2011, the New York Times named Corvallis as the American city with the lowest risk of natural disaster.[63]
Water
The city's water system contains two water treatment plants, nine processed water reservoirs, one raw water reservoir, and some 210 miles (340 km) of pipe. The system can process up to about 19 million US gallons (72,000 m3) of water per day.[39] The Rock Creek treatment plant processes water from sources in the 10,000-acre (40 km2) Rock Creek Municipal Watershed near Marys Peak. The three sources are surface streams which are all tributaries of the Marys River. Rock Creek has a processing capacity of 7 million US gallons (26,000 m3) of water per day (gpd), though operational characteristics of the 9-mile (14 km), 20-inch (51 cm) pipeline to the city limits capacity to half that.[40]
The Rock Creek Plant output remains steady year round at about 3 million gpd.[39] The H.D. Taylor treatment plant obtains water from the Willamette River, and has been expanded at least four times since it was first constructed in 1949. Its output varies seasonally according to demand, producing from 2 to 16 million US gallons (61,000 m3) per day,[39] though it has a capacity of 21 million gpd.[40] The total reservoir capacity is 21 million US gallons (79,000 m3),[41] though measures to voluntarily reduce water usage begin when reservoir levels fall below 90% of capacity, and become mandatory at 80% or below.[42] As part of its ongoing water conservation program, the water department jointly publishes a guide to water-efficient garden plants.[43]
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