MANSON, NC (ENS) - Rural Americans without running water in their homes and without wastewater disposal may soon benefit from new funding earmarked to improve these services. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide over $226 million to improve drinking water and wastewater service in America's rural areas. The funds, a combination of grants and loans, will benefit 380,000 rural residents through 113 projects in 41 states.
"It is simply unacceptable that at the start of the 21st Century, there are Americans who have to haul their water from open wells and streams and boil it to make it safe to drink," said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, speaking to citizens of Warren County, N.C., which received $5.5 million in loans and grants for a drinking water system.
"Investing in the safety and quality of a community's drinking water improves public health, enhances fire protection, expands economic opportunity and conserves precious natural resources."
The funds are part of the Water 2000 initiative, launched by the Clinton administration in August 1994. About two million rural Americans have critical drinking water problems. This includes about 690,000 people with no running water at all in their homes, down from an estimated 1.1 million people without water in 1990.
In Huron County, Michigan, USDA and other public partners will invest more than $20 million in grants and loans to provide drinkable water to rural communities who presently have high levels of arsenic, barium and iron in the public water supply system. The service area for this project consist of 2,108 residential and business users.
In Marshall and Roberts Counties in South Dakota, USDA will invest more than $3 million to benefit a low income community in a unique partnership between a nonprofit water association and a tribal government to meet pressing needs for quality drinking water.
An estimated five million additional rural residents are affected by undersized or unprotected water sources, lack of adequate storage facilities, and antiquated distribution systems. Under Water 2000, the USDA acts as a lender of last resort, targeting investment to communities that need it most.
Water 2000 projects also leverage funds from local water districts, county governments, state agencies and other federal sources to make the most effective use of all available resources. This year, $85.6 million in additional funds will come from these other sources. The federal assistance package announced July 10 brings the total amount invested through Water 2000 to $2.5 billion, and the number of Americans served to more than three million.
For more information, visit the USDA's web site.
