City of Grants Pass
Grants Pass, Oregon
Grants Pass is the most charming report in the cohort — it runs its resident photo-contest winners in the report, the first-place photo across the full width of the cover, and frames its data around the community it serves. It is also honest, owning two HAA5 samples that ran over the limit. It stays in the silver tier mainly because, underneath the art direction, it is a conventional PDF.
Scored edition: 2025 Water Quality Report (2025 data).
- Corrected September 13, 2026: Each scorecard now names and links the exact report edition we scored, and notes any newer edition the utility has published. Some report links had pointed to pages that have since moved on to a newer edition.
- Corrected September 13, 2026: The scorecard said the report runs its photo-contest winners full-bleed, that no other report attempts this, that its cover shows the Rogue River, and that its contaminant panel is complete. Only the first-place photo spans the cover (the second-place photo is on page 2), the comparison with other reports is withdrawn, the report does not name the river, and the timeliness note now lists what its tables cover.
- Corrected September 13, 2026: Verdicts that named one factor as the only thing holding a report back now name it as the main one, matching sub-scores in which more than one pillar is below 5.
What their report looks like
How it scored, pillar by pillar
Weighted across five pillars for a 73/100 overall. Each note explains why this report earned that score.
Plain-language clarity25% of score
Approachable and community-facing, with a monthly-usage bar chart banded by temperature; most terms are explained, a few stay technical.
A 5/5 looks like: Every term is translated, units are made tangible (e.g. an Olympic-pool analogy), and each section opens with what it means for you.
Contaminant transparency25% of score
Honestly frames two HAA5 samples over the limit against a compliant running average rather than omitting them.
A 5/5 looks like: PFAS, lead and any exceedances are shown with real values against the limits, and problems are disclosed plainly rather than buried.
Information design20% of score
Distinctive art direction — its resident photo-contest winners, the first-place photo across the full width of the cover — though the data tables themselves stay conventional.
A 5/5 looks like: Contaminant data is visually encoded — charts against limits, multi-year trends, comparisons a layperson reads at a glance.
Digital accessibility & delivery20% of score
A PDF with no responsive web-native version.
A 5/5 looks like: A responsive web-native report with navigation, charts, and an address lookup — not just a PDF.
Timeliness & completeness10% of score
Tables cover turbidity, coliform, chlorine residual, disinfection by-products and lead and copper (sampled September 2023), with its UCMR 5 results summarized in a paragraph.
A 5/5 looks like: The most recent data year, with a complete contaminant panel including unregulated/emerging compounds.
marks the cohort average across all 25 reviewed reports.
What it does best
- Resident photo-contest art direction — the first-place photo runs across the full width of the cover, the second-place photo on page 2.
- A monthly-usage bar chart with a temperature color band.
- Honestly frames two HAA5 samples over the limit against a compliant running average.
Where it falls short
The community-sourced design is a delight, but it is still a PDF and the data presentation is conventional.
How it compares
City of Grants Pass's report ranks #7 of 25 reviewed utilities, with a report-clarity score of 73/100 against a cohort median of 69. That places it in the top 28%.
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