The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Tuesday that it is investing over $6 million to improve the water infrastructure in four rural Alabama towns.
The Alabama investments are part of a nationwide package of $462 million the USDA is spending to modernize the drinking water and wastewater systems in rural areas across the country.
“I am pleased to see Alabama rural water systems receive Water and Environmental Program (WEP) funding to upgrade and repair infrastructure. These types of investments are vital in delivering safe and adequate water supplies to our rural communities,” said USDA Rural Development State Director for Alabama Chris Beeker in a statement accompanying the announcement.
The project descriptions for the four investments, per the USDA, as follows:
•The town of Bear Creek located in Marion County will use a $1,227,000 loan and a $828,000 grant to make much-needed upgrades and repairs to the water system. The existing system is experiencing a high volume of water loss due to the age and condition of the water system.
• The city of Clio will use a $792,000 loan and a $466,000 grant to make upgrades and repairs to the water system located in Barbour County. The repairs will include updating three existing steel water elevated storage tanks components by adding overflows, vents, ladders and other safety features, and cleaning and repainting the interior and exterior of the tanks with a protective coating.
• In Houston County, the town of Columbia will use a $256,000 loan to make essential improvements to the existing water system. Currently, all the water meters are still manually read and beyond their useful life. There are also issues with some of the meters that fail to provide accurate readings and detect water loss. The project will replace all the old meters with new radio-read meters that will allow one person to obtain the readings, a two-day task, in one day.
• The Lemoyne Water System, Inc., will use a $2,473,000 loan to make necessary upgrades and improvements to the existing water system located in Mobile County. These improvements include replacing one of three wells, adding a generator to one of the existing wells, adding new hydrants at the end of lines, and will include the extension of water mains to make water service available to unserved households in the area.
“Rural Development stands ready to help rural communities across the state by providing financial assistance, because when rural America prospers, all of America prospers,” added Beeker.
Any community interested in similar investments can contact the USDA Rural Development Office for Alabama here.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
