State to receive $12.5 million for drinking-water improvements

Wednesday, May 20, 1998 | 10:12 a.m.

Nevada will receive $12.5 million this year from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to fund drinking-water improvements in small, rural supply systems, the Nevada congressional delegation announced Tuesday.

"Rural Nevadans have the same rights to safe, clean drinking water as Nevadans living in urban communities," Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said.

The grant is part of a $1 billion package approved by Congress to ensure safe, clean drinking water. The money becomes available Thursday.

"Small, rural water operations account for 90 percent of all current water-quality violations," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. He is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and one of the original four authors of the bill.

"Yet many of these communities simply cannot afford the necessary personnel and treatment equipment to meet standards that were developed for big-city water suppliers," Reid said.

The funds will go to the Nevada Department of Human Resources into a revolving loan fund.

"This grant is a direct payoff of our efforts to protect Nevada's environment, which has been one of my highest priorities since taking office, and will help ensure our state's water supply is free of dangerous elements like arsenic and perchlorate (a rocket-fuel oxidizer)," Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., said.

"These critical federal dollars will go a long way toward ensuring Nevadans have safe drinking water," Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said.