Brady PieperThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making $25.5 million in grants available to 16 projects that focus on climate change and drinking water system upgrades in underserved, small and disadvantaged communities nationwide.
In a first-time investment for the EPA, communities from Alaska to Connecticut will see grants up to $5.25 million through the Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program. The program, established under 2018’s America’s Water Infrastructure Act, will enhance local water quality, improve utility infrastructure and upgrade people’s quality of life and access to necessary resources. The Initiative will also bolster job and economic growth in underserved communities.
“Across the country, climate stress is often felt as water stress that can burden a community’s drinking water infrastructure,” Acting Assistant Administrator Bruno Pigott said in a press release. “This new grant program, along with historic investments from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will strengthen our nation’s water infrastructure and protect public health.”
Grants were awarded to cities, townships, local communities and protected Native American tribes with climate change in mind. The 16 recipients will invest grant funding into several water-related projects, including the development of water system protections, water supply system upgrades and natural disaster management plans that will maintain clean drinking water in communities.
In California, four projects will receive nearly $7.4 million in grants. The largest project, the city of Fresno will secure $3.7 million to protect drinking water system infrastructure by replacing water pipes in preparation for droughts. Indian Wells Valley will improve water system resilience from earthquakes, droughts and climate change, while Antelope Valley-East Kern will install fuel trailers and a generator to protect existing systems. The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians are set to receive $331,000 to computerized water management systems to protect the community from wildfires.
Three projects in Alaska will secure over $10.2 million in grants for various drinking water infrastructure upgrades. Remote Newtok Village will take in $5.25 million to relocate water systems away from eroding and drought-stricken areas. Ketchikan Gateway Borough and Saint Paul Island City will both institute emergency generators and improved infrastructure for natural disaster mitigation, including damage from earthquakes, blizzards, cyclones and flooding.
Other significant projects include a $3.8 million project operated by the Clarksburg Water Board in West Virginia for water aeration equipment and protective measures against summer droughts, Connecticut Department of Public Health’s $556,000 emergency waterline project and a $400,000 project in the U.S. Virgin Islands for data collection and modeling efforts to protect drinking water systems from hurricanes and earthquakes.
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