OKLAHOMA CITY – The McIntosh County Rural Water District No. 13 (District) received approval for $800,000 in funding 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 a 100% principal forgiveness loan through the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).
The District will utilize these proceeds to replace water meters with a remote meter reading system, install generators and auto transfer switches at the water plant and at the Carson booster pump station, make improvements to the water plant’s clear well, to two standpipes and two storage tanks. These improvements will reduce water loss by more accurately measuring water sold to system customers and safeguard water quality through upgrades at the clear well and storage tanks in the distribution system.
Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the District’s customers will save an estimated $1,219,700 compared to traditional financing.
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 $2.2 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 $7.3 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 Senator Roger Thompson, State Representative Randy Randleman, and State Representative Neil Hays for their support of the 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