**Engineers will drill 4-5 test holes on this bench above the Yachats water treatment plant to see if it can support a new 1.5 million gallon reservoir.** (City of Yachats)

YACHATS – The Yachats city council Thursday approved a contract for no more than $91,900 to have an engineering firm drill four to five holes on city property to see if it is strong enough to support a new 1.5 million gallon water reservoir.

The city is trying to find an appropriate place to build a tank to replace the 35-year-old concrete tank on Radar Road that engineers believe could fail in a moderate to severe earthquake. Tests last year on an eight-acre site owned by developer Layne Morrill above Sea Aire Assisted Living showed a reservoir there was feasible but very expensive to build and would require the city to buy the land.

An aerial view with lines indicating tax lots shows the 28-acre property where the Yachats water treatment plant is located as well as the city owned eight-acre property west of it. Engineers will now test the northwest section of the water plant property to see if it is suitable for a new reservoir.

That revelation led water supervisor Rick McClung to suggest exploring a flat bench of land about 900 feet above the city’s water treatment on Yachats River Road. The city bought eight acres of the adjacent property in 2023 and has already cut a road through it to the potential reservoir site.

The idea behind the test holes is to see if the land – and the bedrock below it – could support the weight of a large reservoir. Engineers would then use that information to determine what kind of foundation is needed – something that helped make Morrill’s property too expensive.

City manager Bobbi Price said the cost of the drilling tests is already accounted for in Yachats’ 2026-27 budget. The council then unanimously approved Price signing the contract with Westech Engineering of Salem, which will use a subcontractor Central Engineering Services to drill the holes, which is expected to take four days.

Yachats is also pursuing a Business Oregon loan or grant to help pay for some of the reservoir project.

— Quinton Smith/Lincoln Chronicle