Clinton Township, Warren and Harrison Township will be receiving a portion of more than $7.3 million in newly announced grants issued under the MI Clean Water Plan, created to ensure clean and reliable drinking water for residents.
“Every Michigander in every community deserves access to safe drinking water,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a news release. “Today’s grants will help 15 communities upgrade their water infrastructure, replace lead service lines, and tackle PFAS and other toxic contaminants. Since I took office, Michigan has invested more in our water infrastructure than the previous eight years. Thanks to bipartisan investments in water infrastructure through the MI Clean Water Plan, we have created jobs, protected public health, and lowered costs for Michigan families. We will keep getting things done on the kitchen-table issues and ensuring working families have access to clean water.”
In Macomb County the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) awarded Drinking Water Asset Management (DWAM) grants included $328,116 for water system enhancements through Distribution System Materials Inventory work and Asset Management Plan updates in Harrison Township.
“We are excited to receive this DWAM (Drinking Water Asset Management) Grant. This will help us make technological improvements to our drinking water distribution system. These funds will be used primarily to locate and record system assets such as shut off valves, fire hydrants, and service lines (the smaller diameter pipes that run from the water main to an individual home or business),” said Harrison Township Supervisor Ken Verkest. “We currently have notes and paper records of these assets, but once completed, we will have everything located by GPS. A virtual model of our system will be created and it will be accessible from anywhere, which will help our field personnel.
As with many municipalities Harrison Township’s water system has more than 1,000 valves and over 1100 hydrants, along with over 8400 service lines.
Verkest said this information will not only help troubleshoot problems in the field, but also help to identify key parts of our infrastructure that need to be replaced and in what order or priority.
“Another part of the grant will pay to expose and identify approximately 30 service lines for which we have limited data. We have located and replaced lead service lines but there are approximately 30 service lines that we do not have records that show what material the line is made of,” Verkest said. “This grant will pay to expose these lines to ensure that they are not lead lines. Some of the work for this project will be performed by township personnel, and some parts of the work will be performed by contractors.”
Other grants in Macomb County include:
City of Warren
• $413,840 for water system enhancement through Distribution System Materials Inventory development.
Clinton Charter Township
• $336,376 for water system enhancement through Distribution System Materials Inventory development and Asset Management Plan updates.
DWAM is a one-time, $36.5 million grant program developed by EGLE under the Clean Water Plan. It helps drinking water suppliers develop and update asset management plans, and/or develop a Distribution System Materials Inventory to identify materials that are part of the distribution system, such as lead service lines, as defined in Michigan’s revised Lead and Copper Rule. Some allocations under DWAM are still being determined, although grant applications have closed.
Whitmer announced the $500 million MI Clean Water Plan in 2020 to rebuild the state’s water infrastructure to help provide clean, affordable water to Michiganders through investments in communities. It addresses Michigan water infrastructure issues such as lead-laden water service lines, toxic contamination like PFAS, undersized sewers, failing septic systems, unaffordable water rates, and constrained local budgets.
The drinking water quality portion of this historic investment includes $102.1 million in federal dollars for lead service line replacement in low-income communities, along with $105 million for General Fund programs that address PFAS or other contaminants, planning and/or rate studies, asset management plan development, and lead service line identification.
EGLE invests more than half of its budget in Michigan communities in the form of financial assistance to address water infrastructure and other efforts to protect the environment and health.
For more information and an interactive dashboard on EGLE grants and loans, visit the Grants and Financing webpage.
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