Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making investments to improve water and waste infrastructure for 168 small towns across the country, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
As part of the announcement four projects in Iowa are receiving a total of $3,889,000 to assist with the following water-related improvements including:
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City of Thurman - $152,000 loan and $144,000 grant to assist with improvements to its municipal water system including a new well and filtration water treatment plant.
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City of Scarville - $115,000 loan and $20,000 grant to assist with the construction of a new pressurized collection system and community drain field.
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City of Livermore - $960,000 loan and $840,000 grant to assist with constructing a new water treatment system and replace some of the existing distribution lines in this community.
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Iowa Lakes Regional Water - $748,000 loan and $910,000 grant to assist with the construction and installation of approximately 11 miles of pipeline to bring rural water to the City of Ayrshire.
A total nationwide investment of $283 million is being made today through USDA Rural Development’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, which provides assistance and financing to develop drinking water and waste disposal systems for communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.
“Strong infrastructure is critical to keeping America’s communities of all sizes thriving, and USDA is proud to partner with the National Rural Water Association to help improve the livelihood of our smallest towns by providing access to reliable water and wastewater systems,” said Vilsack. “Projects like these are critical to the economy, health and future of rural America, and today 19 million residents now have improved water and wastewater services in their communities thanks to investments USDA has made since 2009.”
Funding for each project announced today is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the loan, grant or loan/grant agreement.
USDA Rural Development’s funding continues to have a dramatic impact on rural communities across Iowa. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development has invested $4 billion on essential public facilities, small and emerging businesses, water and sewer systems, and housing opportunities for Iowa families.
This past year USDA Rural Development’s investment in Iowa helped create or retain more than 1,000 jobs, aided 2,400 families in buying their own homes and assisted more than 60 communities as they made improvements to their facilities, services and infrastructure.
Contact USDA Rural Development
For more information about finance programs available through USDA Rural Development, please call (515) 284-4663 or visit the agency’s web site at www.rd.usda.gov/ia.
USDA Rural Development has 11 offices across the state to serve the 1.7 million Iowans living in rural communities and areas. Office locations include a State Office in Des Moines, along with Area Offices in Albia, Atlantic, Humboldt, Indianola, Iowa Falls, Le Mars, Mount Pleasant, Storm Lake, Tipton and Waverly.
Today’s funding builds on USDA’s historic investments in rural America over the past seven years. Since 2009, USDA has worked to strengthen and support rural communities and American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other countries, and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials.
Since 2009, USDA Rural Development (@USDARD) has invested $13.5 billion for 5,739 water and waste infrastructure projects, benefiting 19.1 million rural residents; invested nearly $13 billion to start or expand nearly 112,000 rural businesses; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes; funded nearly 9,200 community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care facilities; and helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses. USDA also has invested $31.3 billion in 963 electric projects that have financed more than 185,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines serving 4.6 million rural residents. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results.