The Lawton Water Authority Receives $29,000,000 Water System Funding From OWRB
OKLAHOMA CITY –The Lawton Water Authority (Authority) received approval for $29,000,000 in funding Tuesday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Authority’s water infrastructure. Construction of upgrades and improvements will be financed by the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).
The Authority is completing a multi-phase repair plan. The present stage of the project requires the replacement of approximately 130,000 feet of water line to mitigate breaks and leaks from its aging infrastructure. These failures have increased repair costs. Waterlines, hydrant systems, services lines, and other appurtenances will be replaced along with the main replacement. This project will improve reliability and lower operation costs of Lawton's distribution system.
Joe Freeman, Chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $4,438,300 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.
The Lawton Water Authority’s official attending the OWRB’s monthly meeting in support of the loan application is Rusty Whisenhunt, Director of Field Utilities. “We would like to thank the board for reviewing our application,” said Whisenhunt. “This is the second phase of our project. The first phase focused on replacing 25 miles of lines and we are ready to break ground on replacing the next 25 miles.”
Sen. Chris Kidd, R-Waurika said, “Lawton continues to repair and replace its aging water lines to ensure the city’s drinking water remains pristine and readily available. I applaud the city for tackling these extensive infrastructure upgrades, and I appreciate the Oklahoma Water Resources Board for providing funding for this project.”
Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB, and Rob Singletary, 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.
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 $2.3 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 $7.4 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.
