Arizona rural communities to receive $7.2 million to overhaul water systems

PHOENIX– The U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $7.2 million in order to overhaul water treatment and distribution systems in Arizona’s rural communities.

As a part of the federal Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, the USDA will pay three Arizona communities to build a new water treatment and distribution center as well as a storage tank and an overhaul of a community’s distribution system.

“The assistance provided today will increase access to safe, reliable water systems and helps to mitigate health risks for 1,060 rural residents,” Acting Arizona State Director Jeff Hays said in a press release Wednesday.

Yuma County Improvement District will receive about $4.8 million to develop and construct a new water treatment and distribution system for the community of Tacna.

Due to the high arsenic levels as well as aged and low capacity pipes, Tacna needed to replace the 40-year-old system, according to the release.

The White House Ranch community in Yavapai County will gain about $1.6 million to install a new ion exchange nitrate removal system and a storage tank.

The rural community of Pinehurst, which is also in Yavapai County, will be receiving over $500,000 to replace the entire existing water distribution system.

Between the three towns that will improve their water systems, the program will help bring clean water to over one thousand people.

For more information, visit the USDA Rural Development Arizona state office website.