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More than $17.8 million awarded for drinking water, wastewater and other projects
Funding provided by American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund, Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund and the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund to New Hampshire Communities
Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) announced today that Governor Chris Sununu and the Executive Council, at recent meetings, have approved multiple projects, in a combination of grant and loan funds, for needed drinking water and wastewater system improvements, totaling more than $17.8 million. NHDES provided the funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund (DWGT), the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). NHDES has offered over $150 million in funding for more than 260 projects, which are in the process of finalizing their proposals to NHDES for submission to the Governor and Executive Council for approval. More information about the projects that have recently been approved is below:
Wastewater Asset Management
The grant funding will be used to develop an asset management program to be used as a complete community specific decision-making tool for wastewater collection systems and/or pump stations. Town receiving Wastewater Asset Management Grants includes:
City of Franklin: $30,000 ARPA Grant
Wastewater Planning
The grant funding will be used for the development of a master plan for the town’s wastewater facility, collection system or pump stations. Towns receiving Wastewater Planning Grants include:
- City of Rochester: $100,000 ARPA Grant
- Town of Waterville Valley: $100,000 ARPA Grant
- City of Berlin: $100,000 ARPA Grant
- Town of Wolfeboro: $100,000 ARPA Grant
- City of Dover: $100,000 ARPA Grant
- City of Keene: $100,000 ARPA Grant
- Town of Salem: $100,000 ARPA Grant
Clean Water Infrastructure
The Clean Water Infrastructure grant funding will be used to make improvements to clean water infrastructure, including sewers, pipelines and pump stations. Towns receiving these grants include:
- Town of Ashland: $1,500,000 ARPA Grant, $3,500,000 CWSRF Loan, Total Project Cost $5,000,000
- Town of Greenville: $150,000 ARPA Grant, Total Project Cost $1,000,000
- City of Rochester: $379,500 ARPA Grant, $885,000 CWSRF Loan, Total Project Cost $1,265,000
- City of Dover: $900,000 ARPA Grant, $2,100,000 CWSRF Loan, Total Project Cost $3,000,000
Drinking Water Infrastructure
The grant funding will be used to repair and upgrade drinking water infrastructure to ensure clean water and prevent contaminants, such as lead and arsenic, from entering the water. Recipients of Drinking Water Infrastructure Grants include:
- Tilton-Northfield Water District: $1,950,000 ARPA Grant, $4,550,000 DWSRF Loan, $6,500,000 Total Project Cost
- Rollinsford Water and Sewer District: $302,400 ARPA Grant, $403,200 DWSRF Loan, $302,400 DWGW Trust Fund Grant, Total Project Cost $1,008,000
Cybersecurity Implementation Grant
The grant funding will be used to support cybersecurity improvements to New Hampshire drinking water and wastewater systems. Specifically, grant money is available to develop and implement programs to proactively mitigate the risk of cybersecurity attacks on drinking water and/or wastewater systems. The grant is open to community public water systems serving a minimum of 500 people and municipal wastewater systems.
- Town of Milford: $100,000 ARPA Grant, Total project cost: $114,195
- City of Claremont: $86,366 ARPA Grant
Background
ARPA is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill to speed up the United States’ recovery from the economic health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant recession. The Act defines eligible uses of the state and local funding, including responding to public health emergencies, responding to workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 emergency, providing revenue relief to states and making investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
For more information regarding infrastructure funding programs such as ARPA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) being administered by NHDES, visit the NHDES Infrastructure Funding website.
For more information, please contact Ted Diers, NHDES Assistant Water Division Director, at theodore.e.diers@des.nh.gov or (603) 271-2951.