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Edmond Public Works Authority

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April 18, 2022

Press Release

The Edmond Public Works Authority (Authority) received approval for $268,200,000 in funding Monday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Authority’s water infrastructure. Two requests totaling $185,000,000 will be financed by the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) where $1,000,000 of the loan will be in the form of loan forgiveness and a third loan totaling $83,200,000 funded through the Financial Assistance Loan Program (FAP).

The Authority will utilize the proceeds to fund a variety of water projects. A low lift pump station for intake of raw water on Arcadia Lake will be constructed which includes a wet well, three (3) 60-inch diameter screened intake lines, five (5) variable speed, vertical turbine pumps, two (2) feed systems, and a 42-inch discharge raw water transmission main. Improvements will be made to the Authority's water treatment plant including modifications to the existing maintenance building, replacement of the granular activated carbon filters, construction of an elevated storage tank for backwash water storage, the construction of two new finished water clearwells, a new lift pump station and water meter valve, two new waste washwater basins, a recycle pump station, and new electrical building. These improvements will allow the system to continue providing sustainable water to customers of the Authority.

Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save a combined estimation of $9,862,300 over the life of the three (3), 30-year loans compared to traditional financing. These loans will be secured with a lien on the revenues of the Authority’s water, sewer, sanitation, and electric systems and a two-cent sales tax.  The Authority’s Director of Water Resources, Kris Neifing, stated, “We appreciate the Board’s consideration and assistance on all of our loans now and over the last several years.”

The DWSRF program is administered by the OWRB and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) with partial funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The DWSRF program has provided approximately $1.8 billion in drinking water loans to provide communities the resources necessary to maintain and improve the infrastructure that protects our valuable water resources statewide.

Since 1983, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board has approved over $5.5 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.

Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB, and Scott Thompson, Executive Director of the ODEQ, express their sincere appreciation to State legislators from the Edmond metro area for their support of the DWSRF and FAP programs.