Four states receive nearly $3 million for stormwater, sewer infrastructure improvements
(WO) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $2,883,000 in funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program to help communities address stormwater and sewer infrastructure needs in Region 7. Safely managing stormwater is critical to preventing contaminants, including untreated sewage, from polluting waterways.
Funding allotments available to Region 7 states are as follows:
Iowa: $326,000
Kansas: $461,000
Missouri: $1,567,000
Nebraska: $529,000
“This funding is an opportunity for small and financially struggling communities to obtain no-cost grants for critical stormwater and sewer system needs,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. “No-cost grants help to ensure that upgrade prices do not get passed on to utility customers, and that’s a win for our community members.”
When rain and floodwaters overrun sewer and stormwater systems, they bypass treatment and transport pollution and sewage directly into creeks, streams, and rivers. These untreated discharges threaten human health, economic prosperity, and ecological function.
Stormwater management is a complex challenge for communities across the country. Through changes made by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this grant program will prioritize stormwater infrastructure projects in small and/or financially distressed and disadvantaged communities and prevent cost-share requirements from being passed on to these communities.
Stormwater can be a significant source of water pollution and a public health concern. It can collect various pollutants, including trash, chemicals, oils, and dirt/sediment, and convey them to nearby waterways. When mixed with domestic and industrial wastewater in combined sewers, stormwater can also contribute to combined sewer overflows during heavy storm events.
EPA’s grant funding is available to states to support projects in cities and towns that will strengthen their stormwater collection systems to be more resilient against increasingly intense rain events made worse by climate change.
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