WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump Administration today announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $462 million to modernize critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure across rural America.

“Delivery of safe, reliable and affordable water is a basic need for the health and safety of our rural citizens. The opportunity to build new infrastructure or to improve existing infrastructure is important to the rural communities of Oklahoma,” State Director for USDA Rural Development Oklahoma, Dr. Lee Denney, said. “We are pleased that these investments are being made in Oklahoma.”

Background:

USDA is funding 161 projects through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program. These investments will benefit 467,000 residents. The following are projects being funded in Oklahoma under today’s announcement.

Rural Water Sewer & Solid Waste Management District No. 1, Beckham County will receive $911,000 in loan and grant funds for two projects. One project is to replace an 8-inch water line and the second project is to replace a 16-inch water line. Due to drought conditions in 2017 and subsequent heavy rains and flooding in 2019, these lines were destroyed. The district provides water to residential, commercial, and wholesale users.

In Maysville, OK, they will use a $1.8 million loan and a $805,000 grant to make improvements to their water system. The improvements to this almost 50-year old system will include a new well and distribution system improvements which include water line replacement throughout the town. These improvements will reduce water loss and improve water pressure throughout the system. Over 1,200 citizens will benefit from these improvements.

In Porum, OK the Porum Public Works Authority will use a $3.5 million loan to make improvements to their water system. The system, constructed in the 1970’s, has made improvements since but has been experiencing water losses and low water pressure. This investment will be used to improve and replace some water lines, rehabilitate standpipes and construct a new booster pump station. These improvements will benefit the residents and businesses that purchase water from the Porum PWA.

The investments that USDA announced today are being made in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

To learn more about investment resources for rural areas, interested parties should contact their USDA Rural Development state office.