FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 18, 2022 Contact: [email protected]
Governor Whitmer Awards MI Clean Water Grants to Help Six Communities Protect and Improve Drinking Water, Upgrade Water Infrastructure Final grants of first stage of governor’s plan awards six communities $5.5M supporting jobs and protecting waters
LANSING, Mich. — Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer awarded more than $5 million under the MI Clean Water Plan to help six communities improve drinking water systems and ensure clean and reliable drinking water for residents.
“The MI Clean Water Plan continues to make investments empowering communities to identify and replace lead water lines, clean up toxic contamination, expand sewer systems, address failing septic systems, and keep water affordable always,” said Governor Whitmer. “We have invested over $120 million under the MI Clean Water Plan into water infrastructure, and the Building Michigan Together Plan I signed earlier this year will invest nearly an additional $2 billion, ensuring that we can deliver clean drinking water to every Michigan family, school, and small business. I will work with anyone to build up Michigan’s water infrastructure and protect every Michigander’s right to clean, affordable drinking water.”
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) awarded Drinking Water Infrastructure Grants (DWI) to the following four communities:
City of Ann Arbor $1.38 million for projects to facilitate overall drinking water system upgrades.
“The City of Ann Arbor is excited to receive a Clean Water Grant from the State of Michigan to support improvements to its raw water pump station”, said City Administrator Milton Dohoney. “This station was constructed in 1949, and this project will allow the city to replace aging infrastructure. Once complete, this project will improve water supply reliability for the City’s 125,000 customers.”
East Lansing – Meridian Water and Sewer Authority $2 million for projects to facilitate overall drinking water system upgrades.
City of Owosso $403,500 for projects to facilitate overall drinking water system upgrades.
Village of Shelby $621,000 for projects to facilitate overall drinking water system upgrades.
In addition, Benton Charter Township received $690,000 in a Consolidation and Contamination Risk Reduction (C2R2) grant to remove or reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or other contaminants, as defined under state or federal drinking water regulations, or efforts to consolidate systems or connect private residential wells to a local municipal system.
“The MI Clean Water Grant means a lot to the residents and community people who use our services in the township, ensuring a healthy work and living environment for all who drink or cook with our water,” said Township Supervisor Cathy Yates. “This is a priority for our township: to ensure all within the boundaries have access to clean and safe water.”
The City of Romulus received $456,300 in a Drinking Water Asset Management (DWAM) grant to help drinking water suppliers develop and update asset management plans, and/or create a process to identify and work toward the removal of hazardous materials that are part of the distribution system, such as lead service lines.
MI Clean Water Plan Governor Whitmer’s bipartisan 2020 MI Clean Water Plan directed $102.1 million in federal funds for lead service line replacement and $105 million for general fund programs that address PFAS or other contaminants, planning and rate studies, asset management plan development, and lead service line identification. To date, the plan has invested a total of $124 million:
Building Michigan Together Plan The MI Clean Water Plan is not alone in supporting communities’ water infrastructure needs. On March 30, Governor Whitmer signed into law the nearly $5 billion bipartisan Building Michigan Together Plan, which makes the state’s largest-ever investment to rebuild and upgrade infrastructure, including water, transportation, high-speed internet, and more. It promises to grow the economy, benefit families statewide, and create up to 27,000 jobs to replace 20,000 lead water service lines. More than $1.9 billion for water infrastructure improvements in the plan includes:
ELGE Investments in Michigan Communities EGLE invests more than half of its budget in Michigan communities in the form of financial assistance to address water infrastructure and other efforts to protect the environment and public health. Learn about funding opportunities for Michigan communities or see an interactive grants and loans dashboard on EGLE’s Grants and Financing webpage. |
MI Clean Water Grants to Help Six Communities
