Atoka Receives Funds For Water System
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The Atoka Municipal Authority (Authority) received approval Tuesday for $1,261,000 in funding from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Authority’s water infrastructure.
Construction of upgrades and improvements to the water system will be financed by the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).
The Authority will use the funds in conjunction with a loan previously approved by the Board in 2020.
The bids came in higher than originally estimated for that earlier project and additional funding was required. The project work includes: the modification and upgrade of their water treatment plant, rehabilitation of an elevated storage tank, construction of a new clear well, rehabilitation of two booster pumps, installation of automatic meter readers, and improvement of the Authority’s SCADA operations.
These projects will reduce disinfection byproducts for residents and businesses in and near the Authority.
Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $133,000 over the life of the 30 year loan compared to traditional financing.
The DWSRF loan will be secured with a parity lien on the revenue of the Authority’s water system, a .75% sales tax, and a mortgage.
Brian Cathey, Atoka Mayor and Chairman of the Atoka Municipal Authority, provided the following statement, “In February of this year, we requested a loan through the Drinking Water SRF program to address several water system improvements, including the rehabilitation of our water treatment plant and the acquisition and installation of automated water meters.
“The bids we received exceeded the amount of that loan. Consequently, we are requesting additional funding through the DWSRF program in order to complete this project. On behalf of the Authority and the citizens of Atoka, I would like to express our gratitude to the Board and its staff for its continued assistance by providing cost-effective financing that will allow us to finish this important project.”
The Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund 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 $1.5 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 OWRB has approved over $4.6 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 Senator David Bullard and Speaker Charles McCall for their support of the DWSRF program.
