The Porter Public Works Authority (Authority) received approval for $890,000 in funding Tuesday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Authority’s water infrastructure. Construction of upgrades and improvements to the water system will be financed by the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) where $322,500 of the loan will be in the form of loan forgiveness.
The Authority will utilize the proceeds for the rehabilitation of a ground water storage tank, an elevated storage tank, and a booster pump station. The rehab will include piping modifications to both tanks to provide a separate inlet and outlet. Additionally, piping between the ground storage tank and the booster pump station will also be modified. Disinfecting drinking water has reduced waterborne disease drastically. However, byproducts which may result by the disinfection can sometimes have unintended effects. Therefore, by addressing this issue, this project helps to meet the public health goals for the state.
Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $626,600 over the life of the 30-year loan compared to traditional financing. The DWSRF loan will be secured with a lien on the revenues of the Authority’s water, sewer, and sanitation systems and a mortgage. A Porter Public Works Authority’s official stated, “The City of Porter would like to thank the board for their consideration and also thank the OWRB staff for all their help.”
The DWSRF program is administered by the OWRB and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) with partial funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The DWSRF program has provided approximately $1.8 billion in drinking water loans to provide communities the resources necessary to maintain and improve the infrastructure that protects our valuable water resources statewide.
Since 1983, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board has approved over $5.4 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.
Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB, and Scott Thompson, Executive Director of the ODEQ, express their sincere appreciation to State Senator Kim David and Representative Kevin McDugle for their support of the DWSRF program.
