The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved funding in 2020 for several drinking water projects and improvements to wastewater infrastructure across Washington and Oregon, which total more than $367 million.
The funding will pay for Washington’s $22 million plan for drinking water projects and $120 million plan to improve wastewater infrastructure in the state. In Oregon, the EPA said it will support the state’s $35 million plan for key drinking water projects and $190 million plan to improve wastewater and irrigated agriculture infrastructure, restore streams, and address pollution. The EPA’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program “is essential to providing all Americans the clean and safe water they deserve,” said EPA Region 10 Administrator Chris Hladick.
Some of the drinking water projects targeted for funding in Washington’s 2020 DWSRF plan include more than $3 million for a new 4.5 million-gallon reservoir to serve the Spokane community of Airway Heights, and another $3 million to replace more than 700 lead gooseneck fixtures in the city of Auburn.
The state’s list of wastewater projects to be funded include more than $37 million to King County’s new 70 million-gallon-per-day-capacity “wet weather station” for treating combined sewer overflows; $6.5 million to Snohomish County for construction of wastewater treatment plants; and nearly $4 million to the city of Grandview to replace 2.5 miles of an existing sewer main.
