EPA Recognizes 49 Water Infrastructure Projects for Excellence; Winners from Marana and Flagstaff, Arizona

 U.S. EPA News Release:

EPA Recognizes 49 Water Infrastructure Projects for Excellence; Winners from Marana and Flagstaff, Arizona

ARIZONA (Feb. 17, 2022) – Earlier this week, at a virtual roundtable with state and community representatives, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored 49 water infrastructure projects for excellence and innovation within the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and Drinking Water SRF programs. These exemplary projects demonstrate leadership in innovative financing, partnership, and problem solving while improving water quality and public health protection.

Picture Rocks and Airline/Lambert Water Treatment Campuses, from Marana, Arizona, was recognized with EPA’s AQUARIUS award for innovation, sustainability, and public health protection in providing clean drinking water to its community.

The award-winning effort began when the Town of Marana confirmed PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane levels in the groundwater were above the current EPA-established health advisory in two of its water systems. The Town then constructed two treatment plants for the affected water systems to achieve the Town’s goals to reduce PFAS concentrations to 25 percent of the EPA health advisory level and 1,4-Dioxane concentrations to an undetectable level. The two plants treat up to 355 million gallons a year.

Flagstaff Watershed Protection was recognized for its important work to prevent forest fires with EPA’s PISCES award. Flagstaff Watershed Protection’s resiliency project employs forest thinning to protect Flagstaff’s drinking water resources and avoid catastrophic wildfire damage. The effort focuses on 10,000 acres of federal, state, and local lands adjacent to the city, reducing dry debris and thinning the forest through removing small- and medium-diameter trees.

“EPA is proud of our longstanding partnership with Arizona to support stronger water infrastructure into the future,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “Today we celebrate the results of EPA’s investment, including innovations that contribute to clean water for communities like Marana and Flagstaff.”

EPA’s AQUARIUS program celebrates innovation, sustainability, and public health protection demonstrated by Drinking Water SRF programs and assistance recipients. 22 projects nationwide from local governments and drinking water utilities were recognized by the 2021 AQUARIUS program.

EPA’s George F. Ames Performance and Innovation in the SRF Creating Environmental Success (PISCES) program celebrates innovation demonstrated by Clean Water SRF programs and assistance recipients. 27 projects nationwide from state or local governments, public utilities, and private entities were honored.

Since 1997, EPA has helped finance through the Drinking Water SRF more than $44.7 billion in water infrastructure. The agency has accelerated investments by working with our state partners to increase the utilization and leveraging of the State Revolving Fund programs.

The SRFs are EPA-state partnerships that provide communities with a permanent, independent source of low-cost financing for a wide range of water quality and drinking water infrastructure projects. Since their inception, EPA’s SRFs have provided more than $189 billion in financial assistance to nearly 43,000 water quality infrastructure projects and 16,300 drinking water projects across the country.

In 2022, EPA will allocate $7.4 billion to states, Tribes, and territories, with nearly half of this funding available as grants or principal forgiveness loans for underserved communities across rural America and in urban centers. The 2022 allocation is the first of five years of nearly $44 billion in dedicated EPA SRF funding that states will receive through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

To see the full list of recognized projects and learn more about the AQUARIUS and PISCES Programs, visit: https://www.epa.gov/dwsrf and https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf

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