Utah received grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to go toward improving water systems in Utah communities.
Recovery Act Water System Improvement Projects gave 19 states grants and loans for water improvement projects and the bill was signed on February 19.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the projects are designed to protect public health by improving water quality and public sanitation services in Utah communities.
Utah is one of the 19 states that received funds. A grant of $1,839,436 and a loan of $874,000 went toward the Manila Town Corporation to improve water systems throughout Utah.
In Manila, the project is to upgrade its 1.3 million gallon water tank and replace the main water line, used to transport drinking water to residents’ homes, which goes through the town.
Cedar City Water Superintendent Robbie Mitchell said the funds for the Utah projects are mainly for the cities in northern Utah.
Michell said to receive government grants for water projects, an area has to have a high demand for water projects in the area, however, Cedar City did not have enough demand for water projects.
Mitchell also said Cedar City’s budget cannot afford to do a water project at the moment and the city can only afford to do per year.
State Director of Utah Rural Development David Conine said there are three projects that are taking place in southern Utah.
Conine said because current water tanks are old are are leaking water at Brian Head, a new project is being done to replace them and larger tanks will be built to hold more water.
The water tank is used to hold the community’s drinking water, Conine said.
Conine also said Brian Head hired an engineering company to build the new tank, and the company has started working on building it.
Brian Head received $9.3 million and one-third of that money is a grant for building the water tank.
“The tank that is being replaced at Brian Head was a tank made out of old redwood and you could see the water leaking out of the sides,” Conine said.
The second project was the Washington County Water Conservancy District. They received $2,435 in a loan from the government to build a larger water tank to hold enough water to serve five communities.
The tank will hold 10 million gallons of water, Conine said.
He also said Washington County received $4 million in other funding from different companies in the communities for the project.
Conine said the third project is called Dixie Deer and is located in the town, Central. The town received a loan of $684,000 and a grant of $316,000 from the government to replace underground water lines that transport drinking water lines into the homes because the old water lines were leaking water.
He said the project also received funding from other sources totaling totaling $2,129,190.
Conine said the amount of grants and loans a community receives is dependent on the community’s income.
Communities with low incomes will more likely receive grants than loans, Conine said.
The USDA gave out many loans and grants to states to build up water systems in communities.
According to the USDA, $2.2 billion went into the Recovery Act funds to go toward the water and environment projects.
President Barack Obama signed the Recovery Act into law on February 17, 2009 to help jump start the nation’s economy, create or save millions of jobs and help improve water systems to save money.
Be the first to comment on this article!