Waurika Public Works Authority receives $1,000,000 grant for system improvements
OKLAHOMA CITY –The Waurika Public Works Authority (Authority) received approval for $1,000,000 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 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant program along with $3,805,000 in Congressionally Directed Environmental Protection Agency grants.
The Authority will use these proceeds to replace two (2) traditional solid contact clarifiers, three (3) multimedia filters, a chemical feed, backwash redundancy, filter to waste piping, and a clear well in the water treatment plant. Disinfecting drinking water has reduced airborne disease dramatically. However, byproducts which may result by the disinfection can sometimes have unintended effects. Therefore, by addressing this issue, this project helps to meet the public health goals for the state.
Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $1,553,200 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 with the financial resources necessary to address water and wastewater infrastructure needs within their systems. Since 1983 the Water Resources Board has approved over $7.3 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.
“We are grateful to State Senator Chris Kidd and State Representative Marcus McEntire 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
