For immediate release: March 21, 2008  (08-035)

Contacts:
Jeff Smith, Communications Office 360-236-4072
Kitty Weisman, Office of Drinking Water 360-236-3116
Kelly Snyder, Public Works Board 360-586-4130

OLYMPIA ¾ The 500 customers of the Deming Water Association in Whatcom County no longer have to worry whether they’ll run out of drinking water during the summer or whether it’s safe to drink.

The former logging town’s water system is overhauling its aging, deteriorating infrastructure with help from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The economically-distressed community was awarded a $1,030,200 low-interest loan that will help pay for new water distribution lines.

"These loans make all the difference for communities such as Deming," said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. "Otherwise they would be overwhelmed with trying to pay for the improvements they need to deliver safe and reliable drinking water."

Last year, the community received a $249,900 State Revolving Fund loan that helped finance a 230,000-gallon reservoir to provide adequate storage and water pressure, a chlorine treatment system, and upgraded pipes from the spring that supplies the town’s water.

Deming is one of 44 Washington communities and water systems that shared in $46.2 million in State Revolving Fund loans this year. The fund is jointly administered by the Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water, the state Public Works Board, and the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development. Interest rates are typically just 1.5 percent, but can be as low as zero in economically distressed areas. Projects are selected based on the highest public health needs.

Economically distressed areas, defined as having an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent or more, are given extra consideration in awarding projects.

The largest loan this year is $8,080,000, for Longview and the Cowlitz Public Utility District, and will go toward a new water treatment plant that will ultimately cost about $27 million. The existing plant, which treats water drawn from the Cowlitz River, is failing because of high levels of sediment in the river near the plant’s intake pipes.

Besides funding loans for water system improvements, the fund supports key state drinking water program activities. These include new Safe Drinking Water Act initiatives, source water protection and technical assistance to water systems.

"Public water system capital improvements are critical to the long-term health and economic vitality of Washington’s communities," said Juli Wilkerson, director of the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

More information on the loan fund (http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/our_main_pages/dwsrf.htm) and a list of all 44 loans and project descriptions is available on the Office of Drinking Water’s Web site.

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