City of Muskogee receives $2,000,000 grant for system improvements

OKLAHOMA CITY –The City of Muskogee(City) received approval for $2,000,000 in funding Thursday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the City’s water infrastructure. Construction of upgrades and improvements to the water system will be financed by the Oklahoma American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant program along with $2,000,000 in local funds.  

The City has a raw water line that is past its life expectancy and needs to be replaced. These proceeds will be used to complete an assessment and survey on the raw waterline, construct a booster station, and add a back up generator at the water plant.  

Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the City’s customers will save an estimated $3,278,200 compared to traditional financing.  

The ARPA grant program is administered by the OWRB with funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and appropriated through the Water and Wastewater American Rescue Plan Act grants program. This OWRB program has been structured to provide communities and other eligible entities financial resources necessary to address water and wastewater infrastructure needs within their systems. Since 1983 the Water Resources Board has approved over $7.0 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.  

“We are grateful to State Legislators from the Muskogee area for their continued support of our financial assistance programs,” said Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB. 

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Contact: 

Joe Freeman 
Oklahoma Water Resources Board 
(405) 530-8800 
Joe.Freeman@owrb.ok.gov