More than $9.8 million awarded for drinking water, wastewater and other projects

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 $9.8 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 $100 million in funding for more than 200 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:
Town of Woodstock: $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:
Town of Seabrook: $100,000 ARPA Grant
Town of Derry: $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 Derry: $117,746 ARPA Grant; Total project cost $600,000
Town of Epping: $500,000 ARPA Grant; Total project cost $700,000
Town of Newport: $1,350,000 ARPA Grant; $3,000,000 CWSRF Loan; Total project cost $4,500,000

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:
Emerald Lake Village District: $2,000,000 ARPA Grant; $1,342,900 DWSRF Loan; $1,342,900 DWGT  Trust Fund Loan; Total project cost $4,775,400

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 and (603) 271-2951.