Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust receives $53,938,500 wastewater system loan from OWRB

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust (Trust) received approval for a $53,938,500 loan Tuesday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Trust’s wastewater infrastructure. Construction of upgrades and improvements to the wastewater system will be financed by the Oklahoma Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).

The Trust will utilize the proceeds for improvements to wastewater lift station number 36 and the Deer Creek wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) biosolids and odor control management, electrical improvements, and aeration system improvements. At the North Canadian WWTP proceeds are for disinfection and dechlorination improvements and diffuser replacement. Additionally, the Trust was approved for a project addressing nonpoint source pollution under the Board’s Sponsorship program. This project will focus on the decommissioning of septic systems in the Lake Overholser watershed by connecting those individual homes to the Trust’s sewer system. The OWRB Sponsorship Program is designed to address a water quality issue or initiative which must be approved under the state’s Nonpoint Source Management Plan (NPSM). The Sponsorship model allows for a nonpoint source project to receive a reduced interest rate when paired with traditional or non-traditional State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan funded projects. This project will maintain the standards of effluent into North Canadian River and Deer Creek.

Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, acknowledged a key benefit for the Water Utilities Trust is they can lock into low interest rates and draw the money as needed which provides planning flexibility. The CWSRF loan will be secured with a lien on the revenues of the Authority’s water, sewer, and sanitation systems.

The Trust’s Business Manager, Vanessa Aguilar, stated, “Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust would like to thank the Board for its consideration in funding through the CWSRF program. We appreciate the collaboration with OWRB and the Financial Assistance Division staff.”

The CWSRF program is administered by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board with partial funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The CWSRF program has provided approximately $2.5 billion in water quality loans to provide communities 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 $6.8 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.

“We are grateful to State Legislators from the Oklahoma City 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