Nearly $17 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 close to $17 million. NHDES provided the funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund (DWGT) and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). NHDES has offered over $166 million in ARPA grant funding for more than 310 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:

Alphabetical list of cities, towns, or entities receiving funds:

Exeter, Exeter River Cooperative, Inc. – Disadvantage ARPA Grant
•    ARPA grant: $1,981,600
•    Total project cost: $1,981,600

Gilford, Mountain View Housing Cooperative, Inc. - Disadvantaged ARPA Grant and DWGW Trust Fund Loan
•    ARPA grant: $1,283,500
•    Drinking Water and Ground Water Trust Fund loan: $128,000
•    Total project costs: $1,411,500

Lancaster – Clean Water Planning Grant
•    ARPA grant: $100,000
•    Total project cost: $100,000

New Castle – Clean Water Infrastructure
•    ARPA grant: $100,650
•    CWSRF loan: $241,250
•    Total project cost: $341,900

Newmarket – Clean Water Infrastructure
•    ARPA grant: $255,000
•    Local funds: $617,172
•    Total project cost: $773,000

Newmarket – Clean Water Planning Grant
•    ARPA Grant: $100,000
•    Total project cost: $100,000

Portsmouth - Clean Water Infrastructure
•    ARPA grant: $600,000
•    Local funds: $2,000,000
•    Total project cost: $2,600,000

Raymond – Clean Water Planning Grant
•    ARPA grant: $100,000
•    Total project cost: $100,000

Somersworth – Clean Water Asset Management Grant
•    ARPA grant: $60,000
•    Total project cost: $60,000

Winchester – Clean Water Infrastructure
•    ARPA grant: $1,245,300
•    CWSRF loan: $3,454,700
•    Total project cost: $4,700,000

Waterville Valley – Clean Water Infrastructure
•    ARPA grant: $800,000
•    CWSRF loan: $4,000,000
•    Total project cost: $4,800,000

Background:
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (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.  

The Clean Water SRF - Title VI of the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act established the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) which provides low-cost financial assistance for planning, design, and construction projects to communities, nonprofits, and other local government entities for both wastewater and stormwater infrastructure projects and other water pollution control activities (nonpoint source, watershed protection or restoration, and estuary management). Projects commonly funded by the CWSRF program include wastewater treatment facility upgrades, upgrades/replacement of collection systems and pumping stations, stormwater utility improvements, asset management, planning, and energy audit measure implementation.

The Drinking Water SRF - The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act created a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to provide assistance in the form of low-interest loans to public water systems to finance the cost of drinking water infrastructure. Public water systems eligible for this program include all publicly and privately owned community water systems and non-transient non-profit public water systems. The primary types of projects funded by the DWSRF program include replacement of aging water pipes and meters, installation of new wells, pumphouse and treatment system upgrades, interconnections, and construction of storage tanks.

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.