The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is giving Arizona $25 million to improve the quality of drinking water and wastewater facilities.
The funds are given to the state’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, which will then disperse the money to several projects in smaller and more economically marginalized communities that will tackle those three issues, while also promoting sustainability.
WIFA anticipates allocating $915,000 to Buckskin Sanitary District, located along the Colorado River near Parker, Arizona. WIFA has previously used EPA funds to provide approximately $4.3 million in loans and $65,000 in technical assistance to the district to improve and expand wastewater service and eliminate failing septic systems. With the newest three-year WIFA design loan the District will design plans for further expansion of its collection and treatment services. When construction is complete on this phase of the project, an additional 1,762 people will have sewer service and the failing septic systems will be eliminated.
When it comes to wastewater infrastructure, the money will be used to support public and private water systems for treatment, distribution, and storage. It also goes to fund wastewater projects that would build or improve treatment plants, sewer collection systems, water reuse facilities and stormwater facilities, an EPA press release said.
Overall, the EPA has awarded Arizona a total of $615 million since the state’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs were created one in 1988 and the other in 1996. Those funds are used for various water quality projects like pollution control and watershed restoration, according to the EPA.
Learn more about the loans here.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2015.
Any idea if this is the usual allotment? Are other states that are part of this collective receiving more funds than us?
I am very, very wary of the forced expansion of septic to sewer of 1792 households.
I recently have friends who are tell me they were recently forced (past 3 years to last month) to pay for main sewer lines from the road on their property, along with expensive backflow filters for the water departments in their respective counties.
10 years ago I would have looked at this article and thought that AZ and the EPA were moving forward and that this is a good idea and plan. Today, I am skeptical of anything Arizona government and the EPA are involved in, especially together, and you should be too.