Dolan Media Newswire Story
Subject: Bill could triple Minnesota’s federal funding for wastewater projects
Pub: Finance and Commerce
Author: Brian Johnson
Category:
Sub-Category:
Issue Date: 11/07/2009 Word Count: 37
Bill could triple Minnesota’s federal funding for wastewater projects
by Brian Johnson
Dolan Media Newswires
© Dolan Media Newswires 2009.MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Minnesota stands to get a nice boost in federal cash for water infrastructure projects under a newly signed appropriations bill.
The 2010 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill, which was signed by President Barack Obama late last week, includes $2.1 billion for wastewater and $1.39 billion for drinking water projects throughout the country.
Minnesota’s take is about $35.7 million for wastewater and $23.6 million for drinking water, which is roughly three times as much as Minnesota’s federal funding allocation was just a few years ago, noted DeAnn Stish, executive director of the Minnesota Utility Contractors Association.
Additional grant funding should push that total to more than $60 million, she said.
Money from the appropriations bill is in addition to Minnesota’s $107 million cut of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Stish welcomes the funding, but she would like to see better coordination among government agencies to get projects “into the ground” more quickly.
“We have to move at a quicker pace. We are losing ground here,” Stish said.
Still, an increasing number of projects have been moving forward. The stimulus money, for example, has helped 40 Minnesota cities improve their wastewater, sanitary sewer and drinking water systems so far this year, according the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority.
Jeff Freeman, deputy director of the PFA, said Minnesota is far ahead if where it normally would be at this stage of the year. October produced about $41 million worth of projects, up from $25 million or $30 million for a typical October in the past few years.
“In terms of how much money is going out for projects, that figure is significantly higher than it has been on average,” he said.
Current projects
Big Lake, Oronco and Red Lake Falls received a total of $20.6 million, including $7.2 million from the stimulus, for wastewater treatment plant improvements in Big Lake, a water distribution system in Oronco and other projects, the Minnesota PFA announced in late October.
The city of St. Peter recently obtained a $16.7 million low-interest loan and $3 million in grants for demolition of its 1950s-era water treatment plant, construction of a new plant, and an addition to the 20-year-old St. Julien Plant, among other projects.
Most of the money is from the federal stimulus package and is financed through the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority.
“The grant dollars are fantastic,” said Todd Prafke, city administrator for the city of St. Peter. “The low-interest dollars will save us between $4 million to $6 million in debt issuance.”
Besides plant improvements, St. Peter is using some of the money to drill new wells to replace “multi-aquifer” wells that date back to the 1960s, according to Prafke. Multi-aquifer wells draw water from different groundwater sources.
Prafke said it was a common practice in the 1960s to save money by drilling one well and sucking water from multiple aquifers.
“That is all cool, but the problem now is that it creates opportunities for water to flow and cross-contaminate in between the aquifers,” he said.
The St. Peter projects are slated for completion in winter 2010 or spring 2011.
Water and wastewater projects are on to-do lists throughout the state because infrastructure is showing its age, and the Minnesota Department of Health is continuing to increase standards on primary and second treatments.
In other words, “there are fewer things that are allowed to be in the water from a health safety perspective than there used to be,” Prafke noted.
Stish said, “Our underground infrastructure is not a very attractive thing that people like to talk about. But it’s a vital component of communities.”
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