CARENCRO, La.
– The City of Carencro was awarded a $5.5 million loan to improve its water system.
The low-interest loan was issued through the State’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund from the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
In addition to the loan, the city also received a grant from the Drinking Water Capitalization Grant that pays for the first $500,000 of the loan (known principal forgiveness).
LDH and City of Carencro officials closed the loan on January 23, 2018.
"The City of Carencro has experienced a tremendous amount of growth, both residential and commercial over the last five years.
To keep up with the demand on water, this loan will allow us to make improvements that will increase our volume and quality of water," said Carencro Mayor Glenn Brasseaux.
"Once these improvements are completed, the facility will handle the water demands for Carencro well into the future," added Brasseaux.
Dr. Parham Jaberi, assistant secretary for the Office of Public Health said it is imperative that all Louisiana residents have access to safe drinking water.
"This drinking water loan program gives local communities a source of dependable and affordable financing to bring their water treatment facilities up to the latest and most modern technology that keeps their residents safe and healthy," said Jaberi.

Oregon gets EPA loan for sanitary sewer project.
The City of Oregon is receiving a low interest loan from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to reduce storm water infiltration and inflow (I&I) into the city’s sanitary sewer, eliminating sanitary sewer overflows and improving water quality in Maumee Bay.
The funds are from the Ohio EPA’s Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF).
Oregon Public Service Director Paul Roman said the sanitary sewer project is one of three in the area off Woodville Road to be rehabilitated.
“We’re basically lining the sanitary sewers.
We are lining the manholes as well.
It does keep a lot of water that is infiltrating through the joints out of the pipe.” Eliminates joints The lining consists of a fiberglass tube that is pulled through the pipe, he said.
So we’re actually getting rid of these joints with these pipes,” he said.
The city has already completed the first phase of sanitary sewer rehabilitation in the area of Toul and Metz avenues off Woodville Road.
The last sanitary sewer rehabilitation in that area will be the rest of the Moundview Park neighborhood, he said.

The importance of investing in water delivery systems.
The need to invest in water delivery systems over the years has only increased and is a more pressing issue.
The problem is not just aging pipes.
The sources of the drinking water are also becoming out-of-date, which include depleted aquifers and inadequate storage.
As water systems age and little investment is made into water delivery systems, the country is paying a costly price.
One important program to help states update their water infrastructure is the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF), which serves as a federal-state financial assistance program in which states receive federal grants and contribute an additional 20 percent in matching funds.
The DWSRF acts as an infrastructure bank to provide low interest loans for drinking water infrastructure projects.
Through 2016, state revolving loan funds have provided more than $30 billion for water infrastructure projects.
President Trump recognizes the importance of this program for infrastructure projects, and his budget proposal calls for increasing federal funds for this program.
More funding for this program will greatly benefit states like Missouri to help update its water delivery systems.

"We are pleased to allocate state revolving funds for important projects like wastewater, stormwater and drinking water treatment facility upgrades, and rehabilitation of aging infrastructure," said Trina Vielhauer, director of the Division of Water Restoration Assistance.
The project will minimize energy consumption and reduce phosphorous at the city’s wastewater treatment facility before discharge into Holmes Creek, part of the Choctawhatchee basin.
As a qualifying community, a majority of this loan will not have to be repaid.
Grand Ridge will be awarded a $50,000 planning loan for the installation of solar panels at the wastewater treatment facility and lift stations throughout the town.
As a qualifying community, a majority of this loan will not have to be repaid.
Some examples of recently selected 2016-17 DWSRF projects include: Citrus County will be awarded a $5.2 million construction loan for transmission main interconnection along the Suncoast Parkway Florida Department of Transportation extension project to connect the Sugarmill Woods and Charles Black water treatment facilities.
Connecting these water treatment facilities will improve the level of water services for the area.
Fairpoint Regional Utilities System, Inc. will be awarded a $5.1 million construction loan for the installation of a new water supply well with a treatment facility for pH adjustment, disinfection and stabilization, as well as nearly 3 miles of distribution lines to connect the new well to the system.
The state’s CWSRF and DWSRF programs combined have awarded more than $5 billion in funding since their inception.
Joint CWSRF and DWSRF public meetings are held four times per year in August, October, February and May, to obligate funding for eligible water projects.

SHANGHAI, June 16 (Reuters) – China and the Asia Development Bank (ADB) have launched a green financing platform to support efforts by small- and medium-sized enterprises to cut pollution in the smog-hit Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, ADB said on Friday. The area, home to six of China’s 10 smoggiest cities in the first quarter of this year, has promised to upgrade or shut vast swathes of polluting industry as it tries to meet 2017 air quality targets. But financing the transition to cleaner energy has proved one of its biggest challenges, especially in poorer rural regions of Hebei, where the switch from coal to natural gas is expected to cost at least 300 billion yuan ($44.04 billion) over the 2016-2020 period. The financing platform was launched by the ADB and the China National Investment and Guaranty Corporation (I&G), the…

EIB finances Bamako’s drinking water and sanitation system with EUR 50 million loan.
On the sidelines of the European Development Days, Dr Boubou Cissé, Minister of the Economy and Finance of the Republic of Mali, and Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), signed a EUR 50 million agreement to finance development of the drinking water supply and sanitation network of the city of Bamako.
This is a priority project for the city of Bamako, which is faced with rampant urbanisation and ever increasing water access needs.
It will provide the Malian capital and its surroundings with both an adequate drinking water supply and a high quality sustainable sanitation system, with the aim of meeting the people’s urgent drinking water access needs and improving their daily living conditions.
Under the drinking water component, capacity will be doubled from 144 000 to 288 000 m³/day, and 25 000 m³ of new reservoirs, 30 km of water mains and 545 km of distribution network, comprising 34 000 connections and 600 standpipes, will be built and brought into service by 2021.
“’He who brings you water, brings you life’ is a Malian saying.
On 16 April this year, in the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic, His Excellency Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, urged the Prime Minister and his government to implement without delay the Presidential Social Emergency programme for the period 2017-2020.
Thanks to this EU financing, the city of Bamako and its surroundings will be provided with a high quality drinking water supply and sanitation service.
We are delighted to be financing this sustainable development project, which forms part of our priority action in support of Mali.” The EIB also financed Bamako’s drinking water master plan.
This project is being cofinanced by the AFD, IDB, WADB and AfDB, which has concentrated on financing the Bamako Sanitation Project.

Feds offer loans to farmers affected by drought.
LEE COUNTY, Fla. – Drought relief is in sight for local farmers — and we’re not talking about rain.
The loans are also offered to most private nonprofit organizations.
The disaster declaration includes the following counties: Baker, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Duval, Glades, Hendry, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Martin, Nassau, Orange, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Saint Lucie, Seminole and Volusia.
Droughts like these are game changers for former Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell, who owns 31 Produce.
"We’re using much more water than we’ve ever used," he said.
The cost to water his crops is costing Greenwell four times as much.
"Financially, it doesn’t even out," says Paige Greenwell.
Under the declaration, the SBA’s disaster loans apply to those effected starting March 21.
Interest rates for private nonprofit organizations are 2.5 percent and 3.150 percent for small businesses with terms of up to 30 years.

The Water.org Philippines team is piloting a new project called WaterConnect to connect families living in the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP) with easy access to improved and safe drinking water. The pilot currently focuses on four barangays, two each in the cities of Biñan and Sta. Rosa in the province of Laguna. This project aspires to target 2,300 families by September 2017- in the nine months allotted for the pilot. Through a strong partnership with Laguna Water, local partner microfinance institutions (MFIs), and WaterLinks International, the Water.org team developed a model to assist the poor families to be connected to piped water that is being supplied by the water utility company in the area. The project scheme attracts a significant number of the poor families who still lack access to piped water. The water meter connection fee of Laguna Water will be paid by the interested households for 18 months without interest. The after-the-meter costs will then be loaned through local Water.org MFI partners. Households who qualify for the MFI assistance based upon its policies will be approved for a loan…

Deadline to apply for drought aid approaching.
Small businesses and agricultural cooperatives seeking financial assistance in the wake of last year’s devastating drought have until May 15 to apply with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Aid is available to farm-related and nonfarm-related entities under the agency’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which provides loans of up to $2 million with 4 percent interest rates for small businesses and 2.6 percent rates for nonprofit organizations.
Terms are up to 30 years.
The program is open to farmers in New York counties that received disaster declarations.
They are: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chenango, Cortland, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Niagara, Onondaga, Orleans, Oswego, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins and Wyoming counties.
With the exception of aquaculture enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers.
Nurseries are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans for losses caused by drought conditions.
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

South Beloit moves toward plant loan.
SOUTH BELOIT — The South Beloit City Council took a preliminary step in applying for an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Water Pollution Control Loan to assist in financing a new wastewater treatment plant.
City Attorney Roxanne Sosnowski told council members at their meeting Monday the city engineering firm, Fehr Graham, now will prepare a loan application to be submitted to the program.
Once terms of a loan have been finalized, the agreement will come back to the city council for review and final approval.
No amount or terms for repayment have been presented yet, said council member Linda Chambers.
The city is planning to construct a new wastewater treatment plant with an estimated cost of $27.8 million.
City officials have talked about a new sewer plant for at least eight years as previous and current city council members have argued the current facility is outdated and not effective to handle future needs of the citys population or business community.
The sewer plant was built in 1955 with expansions in 1968, 1977 and 1986.
He said the sewer plant is handling about 3.5 million gallons a day currently when it was taking in about 2 million gallons a day at this time last year.
Reininger said the groundwater leaking into the sanitary sewer system is most likely not coming from the areas that recently were repaired, but there may be new leaks.