Ottawa County Rural Water and Sewer District No. 4 Receives $999,999 Water System Loan with Principal Forgiveness from the OWRB
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Ottawa County Rural Water and Sewer District No. 4 (District) received approval for a $999,999 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 distribution system and is undertaking improvements to modernize its metering infrastructure and enhance system efficiency. The project will replace approximately 950 existing water meters with Automated Meter Reading (AMR) technology, which allows water usage data to be collected electronically without manual meter readings. The new meters will improve billing accuracy, help identify leaks and other sources of water loss more quickly, and reduce operational costs. By providing operators with better system data and freeing up staff time for maintenance and repairs, the project will strengthen long-term water security and improve service reliability for residents and businesses throughout the District.
Lori Johnson, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the District’s customers will save an estimated $1,581,300 when compared to traditional financing.
“The Ottawa County Rural Water District No. 4 project makes an important step towards greater efficiency with the use of automated reading water meters,” said Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair. “Replacing outdated meters will help with detection of leaks in the meters and improve water security. The increase in reliability of these meters will help tackle water loss problems across rural Oklahoma.”
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 Micheal Bergstrom and State Representative Steve Bashore 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 $8.7 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.
