Little Rock, Ark (KATV) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Thursday they are investing $20.2 million into rural Arkansas communities to fund three new Water and Waste Disposal projects.
The project comes as part of the USDA’s wider Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, which is designed to improve wastewater infrastructure for local governments, private nonprofits, and federally recognized tribes. It is also connected to President Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda.
In a release, USDA say this development will drastically expand water related infrastructure in Arkansas’s rural regions.
“Investing in modernizing the infrastructure of rural Arkansas pays dividends by empowering opportunity and prosperity for the people who call those communities home. These investments will help rural cooperatives and utilities provide clean drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems for rural Arkansas families and businesses for years to come. These projects will help grow the economy for future generations, create good-paying jobs, and better position rural Arkansas to compete in a global economy,” said USDA Rural Develpment Arkansas State Direcor Jill Floyd.
The following three projects will receive funding from the grant:
- – Rock-Moore Public Water Authority – $1,514,000 loan to fund essential improvements to the public water system in rural Independence County. The project will include installation of high-service pumps and an emergency backup generator; improvements to the wastewater treatment plant; and construction of a pump station.
- – City of Clarendon – $2,836,000 loan and $7,417,000 grant for replacement of the city’s wastewater collection system. These improvements will address health and sanitary issues with the city’s wastewater system.
- – Runyan Sanitary Sewer Improvement District – $8,469,000 loan will provide funds for replacement of its wastewater treatment plant in rural Pulaski County. The project will eliminate ongoing health and sanitary violations involving the system’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination system (NPDES) permit. More than 4,100 residents will benefit from improvements to this facility.
