Okmulgee County Rural Water District No. 5 Receives $346,936 Water System Loan with Principal Forgiveness from the OWRB

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Okmulgee County Rural Water District No. 5 (District) received approval for a $346,936 loan with 100% principal forgiveness on Tuesday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the District’s water infrastructure.  Construction of upgrades and improvements to the water system will be financed by the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).

The District operates a public water system and will use the funding to replace approximately 370 aging manual-read meters with modern drive-by remote-read meters and to install a new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which provides real-time monitoring and operational control. These upgrades will improve the accuracy of water-use measurement and help identify leaks or other sources of water loss more quickly. By automating data collection and system oversight, the project will also increase operator efficiency and reduce the time spent on manual tasks. Overall, the improvements will support a more reliable, efficient, and resilient water system for District customers.

Lori Johnson, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the District’s customers will save an estimated $570,800 over the life of the 30-year loan when compared to traditional financing.

“The Rural Water District No. 5 project takes an important step towards supporting greater efficiency throughout our local infrastructure,” said Senator Bryan Logan, R-Paden. “Modernizing these readers will ensure more reliable and consistent readings to help tackle water loss problems across Okmulgee County. I appreciate OWRB and our local partners for their coordination on this key project.”

"I'm grateful to OWRB for granting this needed funding, "Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, said". These updates will save time and money, benefitting the residents of this water district, including in the Henryetta area."

Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB, and Rob Singletary, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), express their sincere appreciation to State Senator Bryan Logan and State Representative Scott Fetgatter for their support of the DWSRF program.

The DWSRF program is administered by the OWRB and ODEQ with partial funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The DWSRF program has provided approximately $2.5 billion in drinking water loans to provide communities with the resources necessary to maintain and improve the infrastructure that protects our valuable water resources statewide.

Since 1983, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board has approved over $8.6 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.

Established in 1957, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) serves as the state’s water resources planning and development agency. A nine-member Board oversees the OWRB, with members appointed by the Governor to represent nine geographic regions and water-use sectors. The OWRB is committed to managing, protecting, and improving Oklahoma’s water resources to meet long-term water supply, water quality, flood mitigation, and infrastructure needs. For more information, visit Oklahoma.gov/owrb.