The Winchester Bay Sanitary District was established in 1967 with a five member Board of Directors. The District provides sewage service to the small unincorporated community of Winchester Bay, Oregon, which is located adjacent to the Oregon Dunes Recreational area and the mouth of the Umpqua River. The District has a service area of approximately 290 acres. Winchester Bay attracts a large number of tourists to enjoy ocean and lake fishing, ATV riding on the sand dunes, and boating.

The District constructed the public sewer system beginning with the wastewater collection system, including 7 sewage lift stations in 1973. The District followed with the construction of the wastewater treatment facility in 1974. Due to the age and overburdening of the wastewater system and regulatory agency violations, the District was mandated by the Department of Environmental Quality in 2003 to fund, design, and construction wastewater system improvements. In 2003 the District imposed a land use moratorium restricting new sewer service connections.

In 2006, the District completed construction of Phase I of the Wastewater Collection System Improvements for the rehabilitation of the 7 sewage lift stations. In May of 2009, the District completed Phase II Wastewater Improvements with the construction of a new Sequencing Batch Reactor Biological Treatment plant and appurtenances and lifted the new connection moratorium in December 2009.

Sewer service connections are now available for properties in and surrounding the District’s service boundary