Wisconsin communities receive $282M for drinking water projects

Dozens of Wisconsin communities will receive more than $282 million from the state for drinking water projects that address PFAS and nitrate contamination.

Gov. Tony Evers announced the funding Monday for 74 communities from the state’s Safe Drinking Water Loan Program. Evers said the money is due in part to nearly $732 million in increased borrowing under the current two-year state budget approved in July by the governor and Republican-controlled Legislature.

“While there is still more work to do, I am incredibly proud of our work to fight PFAS, help private well owners replace their contaminated wells and replace lead service lines statewide,” Evers said in a statement.

The funding will be finalized and awarded over the next year to reimburse communities for water upgrades.

The money includes around $13 million to address emerging contaminants that include PFAS and $42.6 million for lead line replacements as part of supplemental federal funding under the bipartisan infrastructure law. Wisconsin was set to receive a total of more than $900 million in additional funding from federal fiscal years 2022 through 2026.

In the latest funding round, the city of Oak Creek will receive the single largest loan amount at $52 million. The money will finance the city’s project to modernize its water treatment plant. The Oak Creek Water and Sewer Utility is upgrading the system because a more than 50-year-old chlorine tank and pump station are not meeting operational and safety standards, according to the city’s website.

The funding will also go toward projects to address PFAS contamination in at least half a dozen communities, including $12.7 million in loans for the city of La Crosse. Of that, around $5.1 million will be in the form of principal forgiveness, which is essentially a grant that doesn’t have to be paid back. The money will help install a new water main to help mitigate PFAS contamination.

In Milwaukee County, the village of Hales Corners would receive about $5 million to address PFAS contamination, and around half those funds would not have to be repaid. The money will help connect affected village residents to the Milwaukee Water System, according to a news release.

Funding for lead service line replacement projects have yet to be announced. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources received 47 applications from 29 communities totaling $182 million, which is expected to exceed available funding. 

Wisconsin utilities own around 147,000 lead service lines and their customers own more than 140,000 private lead lines, according to most recent data from the Public Service Commission. Tens of thousands more pipes may contain lead. The EPA previously estimated that Wisconsin may have as many as 341,000 lead service lines.

The DNR distributes funds under the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program. Since 1998, the agency has provided nearly $1.5 billion in financial aid to communities through loan programs that target drinking water upgrades.