The Lawton Water Authority receives $30,000,000 water system funding from OWRB
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Lawton Water Authority (Authority) received approval for $30,000,000 in funding Tuesday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Authority’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 Authority will utilize the proceeds for city wide water line replacement. This project will ensure that water pressure is maintained for customers of the Authority.
Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $4,585,300 over the life of the 30-year loan compared to traditional financing. The DWSRF loan will be secured with a lien on the revenues of the Authority’s water, sewer, and sanitation systems. Director of Field Utilities, Rusty Whisenhunt, stated, “Thank you for this opportunity. This project is phase one of three. Rehabilitation started in 2019 and will replace 125 miles of line within the water system when complete”.
The DWSRF program is administered by the OWRB and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) with partial funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The DWSRF program has provided approximately $2.1 billion in drinking water 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 $6.9 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.
Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB, and Scott Thompson, Executive Director of the ODEQ, express their sincere appreciation to State Senators and State Representatives from the Lawton area for their continued support of our DWSRF program.
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Contacts:
Joe Freeman
Oklahoma Water Resources Board
(405) 530-8800
Joe.Freeman@owrb.ok.gov
Candy Thompson
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
(405) 702-8100
Candy.Thompson@deq.ok.gov
