The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Virginia Rural Development office today announced it will invest in planning and evaluation processes critical to six rural Virginia localities’ water and sewer infrastructure.
“Our planning grants fund what will be the foundation of, and a major catalyst for, providing residents with access and updates to essential services,” said Jim Maras, Virginia community program director, USDA Rural Development. “Preliminary engineering and environmental reports needed for infrastructure upgrades are often out of reach financially for rural localities, which are reasons why we’re proud to offer these grants as means for empowering localities across Virginia to launch projects safely and effectively.”
Most of the grants announced today are USDA Rural Development SEARCH grants, which help very small, financially distressed rural communities with predevelopment feasibility studies, design assistance and technical assistance on proposed water and waste disposal projects.
Also included in today’s announcement is a Predevelopment Planning Grant (PPG), which assists low-income communities with initial planning and development of an application for USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal direct loan/grant and loan guarantee programs.
Funding is contingent upon the recipients meeting the terms of their grant agreement.
Descriptions of the projects and localities are below.
- Independence - $30,000 - SEARCH grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports that will address needed improvements to the town's existing water system, including the replacement of water line along the Route 21 corridor.
- Louisa - $30,000 - SEARCH grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to address needed repairs or replacements to the sewer collection lines. Sewer lines and manholes within the town are of varied ages, with some dating back to the early 1900s. Inflow and infiltration of the pipelines and manholes by rain and groundwater reduces available treatment capacity at the plant. Also, when there is a heavy rain, sewage seeps above the manhole covers.
- Pulaski - $21,000 - Predevelopment Planning Grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to address needed improvements to the town's sewer collection system. Portions of the sewer collection system date back to the early 1900s. The condition of the system is poor and it currently suffers from excessive infiltration/inflow (I&I), as many of the sewer mains are in low-lying areas. Excessive I&I causes the town to exceed its allocated treatment capacity at the regional treatment plant.
- St. Charles Water and Sewer Authority - $30,000 - SEARCH grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to address needed improvements for reducing inflow and infiltration in the sewer collection system.
- Henry County PSA - $30,000 - SEARCH grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to evaluate the extension of public water to the north and south of Route 58 in the western end of Henry County. Residents and businesses in the western end (north and south of Route 58) of Henry County are currently served by private wells. There have been complaints about poor water quality and wells pumping mud in the area.
- Charlotte Court House - $30,000 - SEARCH grant funds will be used to develop preliminary engineering and environmental reports to evaluate the development of a public sewer system. Residents in Charlotte Courthouse are currently served by private septic systems and drain fields, which are failing. Raw sewage seeps above ground, thereby creating a health hazard.