The State Water Infrastructure Authority has approved more than $240 million in loans and grants for 127 projects statewide, all aimed at improving or replacing North Carolina water and wastewater infrastructure. Funding for this round is awarded through the Community Development Block Grant-Infrastructure program, the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan program, Drinking Water State Reserve program, Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan program, and the Wastewater State Reserve program, all administered through the Division of Water Infrastructure.
“From water quality to economic growth and protecting public health, we are proud to partner with North Carolina towns and cities to strengthen their communities’ access to clean water through this funding,” said Michael S. Regan, secretary of the N. C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). “Everyone should be able to rely on their water supply, and this funding supports projects that do just that.”
This was the final application round to use funds from the Connect NC Bond. The authority determined the eligibility of applications selected to receive funding from the available funding sources listed above. The approved funding provides the best funding available for a given project application and maximizes the utilization of Connect NC Bond loan funds.
The authority prioritized portions of the Community Development Block Grant-Infrastructure funding for Hurricane Matthew-related projects. This resulted in funding for eight projects, for a total of more than $9.8 million.
Among the communities that received funding was the city of Oxford.
“Oxford is pleased and excited to be moving forward with planned improvements to our water and sewer systems with the funding provided through the division,” said Amy Ratliff, am Oxford city engineer. “Without this aid, the city would not be in a position to perform badly needed utility infrastructure work. We can now look forward to the infrastructure legacy we will leave for future generations.”
In other funded projects, the town of Farmville will be able to replace sewer lines to resolve and prevent blockages and sewer backups that represent serious health issues. In the town of Bladenboro, which suffered infrastructure problems during Hurricane Matthew, funding is providing two permanent generators that will maintain power in the wastewater system in future storms.
A full summary of funding approved by the authority and a list all of the funded projects statewide is available at: http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=f4cdffa8-3e9d-4c87-9d98-c405f79d3c9a&groupId=14655572.