Olympia, Aug. 28, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that USDA is investing millions nationally to build and improve critical infrastructure that will benefit people living in rural communities across the country.
"Investing in America means bringing big money into small places and that is certainly true here in Washington State," said Helen Price Johnson, State Director for USDA Rural Development in Washington State. "These investments are going to create safe and quality drinking water and expand access to quality childcare, and that makes a difference for our rural communities."
The funding announced today advances President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, to grow the American economy from the middle-out and bottom up – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and build a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
For example, in Washington:
- Holiday Valley Water in Thurston County received $357,500 through USDA’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan & Grant program to replace 60-year-old asbestos concrete pipes with poly vinyl chloride (PVC). Holiday Valley Water Association is an existing Group A community water system that was built in the 1960s serving 64 full-time single family residential connections. The Association is installing a new water main line to reduce the amount of maintenance and repair needed on the system. This repair also addresses the environmental issue of water waste due to leakage and the asbestos in the pipes.
- Sun Valley Estates Maintenance Association in Yakima County will be awarded a $3.8 million loan/grant combination to install new water mains, meters and valves to replace the current ones that are past their useful life.
- In USDA’s Community Facilities Program, Columbia County Public Hospital #1, will use a $413,000 grant to renovate a building to create a new childcare facility, Touchet Valley Childcare Center.
“USDA invests in rural America because we know strong communities are rooted in their people,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Secretary Vilsack. “Powering people with modern infrastructure creates good-paying jobs and supports opportunities for people to build brighter futures. The investments we’re announcing today demonstrate the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to ensuring that people who live and work in rural areas have every opportunity to succeed – and that they can find those opportunities right at home.”
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.