USDA invests in Churchill County infrastructure

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $891 million to modernize rural drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in 43 states including Nevada.

These 220 projects will help improve rural water infrastructure for 787,000 residents. The projects are being funded through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program.

In Nevada, three water projects, totaling $4.57 million were approved for funding in Mineral, Storey and Churchill counties. Of that, $3.9 million is in the form of loans and $662,528 in grant funding.

“These rural water projects are vital to community prosperity,” said USDA Rural Development Nevada State Director Phil Cowee. “Upgrading water infrastructure provides a path to economic growth."

Storey County will use an additional $344,000 loan to complete construction of two 500,000-gallon water tanks to provide storage for water connections in the Virginia City, benefiting area residents.

Churchill County will use a $558,000 loan and $140,528 grant along with funds received from Nevada to drill and equip a 14-inch backup well for Churchill County's Sand Creek water system that serves 987 residents. Funds will also cover the cost to install 2,400 feet of 10-inch raw water transmission main and extend three-phase overhead power 900 feet.

Mineral County is using a $3 million loan and $522,000 grant to construct two ground-level steel water storage tanks with a 1.5 million-gallon capacity and decommission and physically separate two reservoirs and the Babbitt storage tank. The new tanks will serve approximately 3,269 residents of Hawthorne.

The Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal, and storm water drainage to households and businesses in eligible rural areas with populations of 10,000 or less.