The Copan Public Works Authority (Authority) received approval Tuesday for $2-million in funding from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB). Construction of upgrades and improvements to the water system will be financed by 100-percent loan forgiveness funding through the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).

The Authority will use the funds to install approximately six and a half miles of six-inch waterline between Washington County Rural Water District (RWD) No. 7 and Osage County Rural Water (RWD) District No. 20.

Additionally, the Authority will also use the funds for several rehabilitation projects related to their water treatment plant including: expansion of the current building, the addition of two new multimedia filters, relocation the chlorine feed, installation of two new chlorine feed pumps at the Osage No. 20 storage tank, and addition of aeration to the Washington No. 7 standpipe. This project will allow Osage County RWD No. 20 to decommission their water treatment plant and improve the water quality for residents and businesses in and near their District. The project will help meet the State of Oklahoma’s Water for 2060 goals.

Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $2,693,300 over the loan’s life compared to traditional financing.

The DWSRF 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 $1.7 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 Oklahoma Water Resources Board has approved over $5.1 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 Julie Daniels and State Representative Judd Strom for their support of the DWSRF program.