TDEC Announces Additional $63 Million in Water Infrastructure Improvement
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) today announced 20 grants totaling $63,888,650 from the state’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) fund, part of which TDEC is administering in the form of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure grants.
Cannon County – $3,872,667
Cannon County, in collaboration with the Town of Woodbury, will use ARP funds to address critical drinking water needs. Cannon’s drinking water projects include the replacement of aged water lines with PVC water main lines, the installation of new pressure regulation stations to connect to pressure zones in the system, and connection of the system with the Warren County Utility District.
Since August 2022, TDEC has awarded and announced $996 million in executed grant funds representing every county and 248 cities through ARP programming, and today’s announced grants mark the conclusion of the award phase of the non-competitive grant program.
Of the 20 grants announced today, two are collaborative grants and 18 are non-collaborative grants. Collaborative grants involve multiple entities (cities, counties, or water utilities) partnering on projects to work toward a shared purpose. The non-competitive grant program will fund a total of 266 non-collaborative grants and 71 collaborative grants. The non-competitive grant program has been a success, funding over 1,000 individual drinking water, wastewater, and/or stormwater infrastructure projects.
Tennessee received $3.725 billion from the ARP, and the state’s Financial Stimulus Accountability Group dedicated $1.35 billion of those funds to TDEC to support water projects in communities throughout Tennessee. Of the $1.35 billion, approximately $1 billion was designated for non-competitive formula-based grants offered to counties and eligible cities to address systems’ critical needs. The remaining funds will go to state-initiated projects and competitive grants.