The U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue up to $307 million in grants and low-interest loans in an effort to modernize rural water infrastructure, officials announced Wednesday. The programs are aimed at towns with less than 10,000 people in 34 states and the territory of Puerto Rico. Officials made the announcement at a wastewater treatment center in the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, north of Santa Fe, where employees have worked to keep the aging plant running for its thousands of residents along the Rio Grande. “Every community needs safe, reliable and modern water and wastewater systems,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement ahead of a tour at the plant run by the Indigenous tribe in New Mexico. The announcement is part of a multistate push by President Joe Biden and his administration to gain more support for a $973 billion infrastructure package that includes more than a half-trillion dollars in new spending. To view the full article visit the US News.
