The Environmental Protection Agency announced $32 million for Oregon’s drinking water and wastewater programs last week, tackling a backlog of $140 million worth of such projects.
The projects will ensure that thousands of Oregonians have access to untainted drinking water.
The state’s drinking water program, is overseen by the Oregon Health Authority, which estimates $70 million is needed to cover more than three dozen projects around the state. Recipients of the latest EPA grants include the city of Gates, east of Salem, which will get nearly $20,000 to replace outdated water monitoring equipment and an additional $30,000 for equipment to test and study the impacts of wildfire on drinking water. The town, which had a population just over 500 in 2019, was devastated by the Beachie Creek Fire in September 2020, which burned about half of all the homes in the area.
The Rhododendron Water Association received $100,000 to buy a conservation easement along Henry Creek in a privately owned logging area. The conservation area, just upstream from the city’s water source, will create a no-cut buffer zone. The money will compensate the landowners for timber that won’t be harvested.
The Christmas Valley Domestic Water Supply District, which serves 430 homes and businesses in the Oregon Outback will get $1.6 million to replace three miles of mainline water distribution pipes. The pipes, made of steel, were installed in 1963 in the area’s highly alkaline, corrosive soil which has eaten away at them.
Eventually the district, situated about 100 miles southeast of Bend, will need to replace 39 miles of pipe, costing at least $16 million, according to Erica Anderson, distribution operator and manager for the district.
“Our infrastructure is failing. We are actively seeking any and all funding that we can get,” she said.
State wastewater projects are overseen by the state Department of Environmental Quality, which estimates that $70 million is needed to complete 19 projects across the state. Areas that will receive the latest EPA grants to complete projects include Madras, which will get over $2 million to connect residents currently on septic to the city’s sewer system. Bend will get $1.25 million to meet climate action goals for its wastewater collections system.
Sweet Home will get more than $30 million to bring its wastewater treatment plant into compliance with the Clean Water Act. According to the project description, “The City of Sweet Home’s current wastewater treatment plant is at the end of its useful life and is not capable of treating current flows nor the flows expected over the next 20 years.”
In addition to the EPA grants, this year Oregon will get $92 million from the federal government for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress in November.
CLARIFICATION: The Rhododendron Water Association received $100,000 that was half loan and half grant to protect the community’s water source. A federal announcement listed the entire amount as a grant.
By Alex Baumhardt of Press Partner Oregon Capital Chronicles
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