'Money Where It's Needed Most': Federal Grant To Have Major Impact On Oklahoma's Rural Water Systems

Several Oklahoma communities will soon see big upgrades to their water systems with the help of more than $12.1 million in federal grants and loan money.

The USDA's Rural Development Oklahoma State Director Kenneth Corn joined News On 6 to explain where this money will be going.

Tess: Can you tell us about the different kinds of improvements that are going to be made with this money?

Corn: Well, President Biden and Vice President Harris have made it a cornerstone of this administration to put money into our infrastructure because rural America has been left behind the last 30 or 40 years. And so there's been a real emphasis on putting money where it's needed most. And so these communities are coming to us for grant dollars and loan dollars that were very low interest so that they can make major improvements. We're seeing things like new water towers, we're seeing things like water lines, meters, things that help deliver good, clean, reliable water to customers, throughout their communities.

Tess: You don't really think about your water until you go and turn it on and it's not there.

Corn: That's absolutely right. And I think a lot of times people think, well, their water community, their water systems are not really doing anything. So much of the investment is in the ground, so you don't see it. But it's critically important that you have that infrastructure in place so we can deliver clean water. And that's been one of the things the President and the Vice President really believe in is that you want to have clean water no matter where you live.

Tess: We have a couple of [photos] to show. So, folks will know exactly which areas are getting the grants and how much money is coming from the Biden administration. Some are loans. Others are grants talk a little bit about that.

Corn: So some of the grant monies like one of them is a technical assistance grant, basically, to help them pay for an engineer. That's, I believe, in Delaware County. And when the reason why that's important, a lot of our communities don't have the money to have an engineer plan in place. And so they can't even get started with federal money. So that's a good place to start with that.

Sequoyah County's a little over $3 million. That's making investments so they can add to expand their system and provide the capacity that they need. And they have, they're probably our largest customer in the state, they come to us a lot. But they had the ability to maintain their system, so they don't have as many problems. And then of course, here in the Tulsa area, we had the Tulsa water improvement authority, I believe number 14 in Sand Springs, what they're going to do upgrade to the water lines, but they've been losing a lot of water through capacity. And so they're going to be able to fix their water lines to stop the loss and help reduce the costs for water customers.

Tess: And you're going to be doing check presentations today. And that was just four of the seven districts that are going to be getting the money. You'll be doing check presentations, just like the ones here. Talk a little bit about your day-to-day and why this is so important to invest in these rural communities in this way.

Corn: Well, first of all, we want people to know that they're getting their money back from Washington. And I think sometimes we run into a problem where people think I don't want federal money. But at the end of the day, it's your money you as Oklahomans are paying into the federal system. And so we're bringing these dollars home.

Secondly, it's critically important for these communities in order for them to survive and prosper. So we're making these investments where it's most needed for these communities to come to us these have been vetted, we know that this is something that needs to happen. And so your tax dollars are going to be spent very wisely.

And the last thing is I think it's important to make an opportunity to celebrate when we have successes and these are successes that will make a real difference in these communities. Immediately. Most of these projects have been obligated. We're just now announcing them. Some of them have already started. So it's really important that we get everything completed so that you can start seeing the work being done almost when the next few days in your communities.

Tess: How quickly will this money be put to work?

Corn: Immediately. Most of these projects have been obligated. We're just now announcing them. Some of them have already started. So it's really important that we get everything completed so that you can start seeing the work being done almost when the next few days in your communities.