Water

Federal grants needed for rural water systems

Adequate and affordable water service is vital to the economic well-being of Washington’s rural areas. Many communities, however, face high water service costs due to the high cost of replacing worn-out infrastructure and meeting increasingly stringent regulatory requirements.

The state revolving loan fund (SRF) created by Congress as part of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act does not typically provide grant money for these systems.

The recently enacted federal economic stimulus package includes $2 billion for the SRF, of which at least 50 percent of Washington’s $36 million share must go to grants, principal forgiveness or negative interest loans to be shared by urban and rural water projects.

The stimulus package also includes nearly $1 billion nationally for rural water and waste disposal grants through the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service.

The SRF and RUS stimulus funds will help address Washington’s rural water needs, but more will have to be done. In a recent statewide survey, the Washington Department of Health determined that projects costing more than $40 million are needed in the next few years for the acquisition and rehabilitation of failing water systems by PUDs and other local-government utilities. Most of these failing systems are in rural areas.

An ongoing federal grants program would play a major role in bringing rural water systems into compliance with federal drinking-water regulations, improving the affordability of water for low-income residents, reducing federal Medicare and Medicaid costs by improving the safety of water for residents covered by these insurance programs, and creating conditions for attracting new tax revenue- producing industry and jobs to rural communities.

PUDs have the authority and countywide service areas needed to solve rural water-service problems and bring professional management to troubled rural systems. We are willing to help ensure that residents have access to safe, affordable drinking water.

Coinciding with our authority to solve rural water problems, the state has an interest, as expressed in the Water Resources Act (RCW 90.54.020), in promoting regional water service by professional, accountable water system managers.

But the existence of “worst case” water systems is a disincentive for PUDs to broaden their water-service role.
An ongoing federal grant program to help rehabilitate failing rural water systems — and put them under permanent management by professional utility operators such as PUDs — will send a strong signal to Washington PUDs that Congress supports our efforts to improve water service on behalf of the citizens we serve.

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