Underground Construction - July 2018 - 5

TWDB Approves
$23.3+ Million for
Water projects
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) approved
financial assistance totaling
$23,324,060 for water system projects. Of this funding,
$1,324,060 was for rural water
projects.
* $1.227 million ($695,000 loan
and $532,000 in loan forgiveness) from the Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)
to the city of Eastland (Eastland County) for planning,
design and construction costs
associated with replacing approximately 8,900 linear feet
of pipeline to help address
water loss in the system.
* $22 million from DWSRF to
the Johnson County Special
Utility District to address water
losses by replacing meters
system-wide with advanced
metering infrastructure and
installing approximately 25
miles of water pipeline.
* $97,060 in loan forgiveness
from DWSRF to the New Ulm
Water Supply Corporation
(Austin and Colorado counties) to finance the installation
of automated meters.
TWDB is the state agency
charged with collecting and
disseminating water-related
data, assisting with regional
planning and preparing the state
water plan for the development
of the state's water resource. It
also administers cost-effective
financial assistance programs for
the construction of water supply,
wastewater treatment, flood
control and agricultural water
conservation projects.

States Request $82.2 Billion for Water Infrastructure

New data shows that requests to fund water and wastewater infrastructure projects through the EPA-administered State Revolving Fund (SRF) have increased 25 percent since last year. For the 2017-2018 fiscal
year, $26.9 billion has been requested for drinking water and $55.3 billion for clean water (wastewater),
according to new state-by-state project analysis from Bluefield Research.
"Outside of revenue generated from customer billing, the SRF program represents a bedrock source
of funding for municipal utilities, reaching almost 20 percent of their capital expenditure needs," said Erin
Bonney Casey, research director for Bluefield. "Although, the $67 billion difference between requested
and awarded funding signals the looming financial challenge for system owners."
This year, $14.4 billion was committed to SRF loans and grants, which include federal allocations,
state matching funds and state-specific financing programs for water infrastructure projects. Of awarded
funds, treatment system projects received the lion's share - 36 percent of drinking water projects and 53
percent of clean water projects. Other types of projects include transmission and distribution networks,
sewer collectors and interceptors, water or stormwater storage, water reuse and stormwater overflow
corrections.
Bluefield's annual analysis of the SRF identifies projects and systems that request these low interest
loans and grants to fund capital improvements. The data also demonstrates high variability from stateto-state that is underpinned by more local factors:
* Ohio dominates the funding allocations, because it has committed to fund all eligible projects, totaling
$2.2 billion in 2017.
* Illinois issues bonds to augment the available money from state revolving funds.
* California and Texas voted in financing to address drought concerns in 2014 and 2013, respectively,
which has boosted the size of SRF resources.
* Tennessee and other states have not fully matched federal funding, therefore leaving funding on the
table in the short and long term.
The current program is already oversubscribed, with only 17 percent of the total requests receiving
funding - loans or grants. Further, only a small percentage of municipalities leverage the program. Of
the approximate 49,000 drinking water and 18,000 wastewater systems in the U.S., 3,911 drinking water
and 3,730 wastewater systems that have requested funding this fiscal year.
"The noted success of the SRF program has not been overlooked in Washington," said Casey. "In light
of what else is happening in D.C. to tackle the nation's infrastructure challenges and roll-backs of EPA
regulations, the SRF program has remained intact amid budget reviews and cuts that have impacted
other programs."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Blueﬁeld Research, (617) 910-2540, blueﬁeldresearch.com

UConOnline.com | JULY 2018

http://www.bluefieldresearch.com http://www.UConOnline.com

Underground Construction - July 2018

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