More than $200 million in funding, for a series of rural water infrastructure projects, has just been released by the federal Department of Agriculture.
In announcing the funding Donald LaVoy, the new deputy undersecretary for rural development with the Agriculture Department, noted that “modern, reliable and accessible infrastructure is critical to economic development and quality of life.”
LaVoy added that the Department of Agriculture remains committed to “partnering with rural communities to help them improve their infrastructure, because when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”
In Arizona, $2.7 million in funding will go to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority for work designed to increase the water supply and provide drinking water to various areas of the Navajo Nation.
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Ganado/Lower Greasewood project includes the construction of a storage and pumping system, and both a piping and control valve facility.
Two projects in Colorado are receiving funding: The Stage Run Homeowners Association in Aurora is getting just under $600,000 to drill a new well and build a well control house and access road for a community of 59 homes.
The town of Antonito in southern Colorado is slated to receive just over $1.8 million for the building of a wastewater mechanical system.
In New Mexico, just over $11 million will target the installation of a new wastewater delivery system set to be built to the north of Las Cruces in the San Ysidro Colonia. Once built, that system will be a part of the City of Las Cruces’ larger wastewater collection system and treatment facility.
The City of Belen is receiving $2.6 million in funding for the construction of an arsenic water treatment facility. According to city officials, water from a well there currently exceeds federally-mandated drinking standards for arsenic.
The latest round of Department of Agriculture funding will support infrastructure projects in a total of 31 states.
By Garry Boulard
