Biden-Harris Administration Announces $13M WIFIA Loan For Water Supply Resiliency And Dam Stabilization In California

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan totaling $13M to the United Water Conservation District in Oxnard, California. This funding will support the planning and design to modernize the district’s largest surface water source, the Santa Felicia Dam, and expand the local drinking water supply by 20%. Since its creation, EPA’s WIFIA program has announced $19B in financing to support over 110 projects that are strengthening drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure while creating over 60,000 jobs.

“EPA’s WIFIA program provides long-term, low-cost loans that help communities like Ventura County, California save money and protect local water resources,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “With historic funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and programs like WIFIA, the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in modernizing America’s water infrastructure, so every community has clean, safe and reliable access to water.”

The Santa Felicia Dam is categorized as an extremely high hazard due to risks associated with seismic events, and United Water Conservation District reduced its reservoir capacity by 20% to comply with seismic reservoir restrictions. This WIFIA loan supports the planning and design costs for the dam’s modernization, which will enhance its resiliency to seismic events, improve stormwater management, expand drinking water supply, and protect public safety. The project will be constructed under a future WIFIA loan and will include a new outlet works system, expansion of a dam spillway, and a new outlet channel.

“Securing this low-interest WIFIA loan for the first phase of the Santa Felicia Dam Safety Improvement Project allows the United Water Conservation District (UWCD) to begin the initial design and construction work that is required to meet the new safety standards established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and California’s Division of Safety of Dams,” said UWCD General Manager Mauricio Guardado. “The WIFIA loan reduces the financial burden on our rate payers while enhancing our ability to store more stormwater for groundwater recharge, provide more water resources for our growers and municipalities, protect the nearly 400,000 people, businesses and food growers below the Santa Felicia Dam and continues to support our sustainable water management practices.”

This initial WIFIA loan accelerates the project’s planning and design while establishing a long-term commitment under a $100M WIFIA master agreement to finance future construction. The district will save approximately $5M by financing with a WIFIA loan. Investing in the region’s infrastructure will create approximately 100 jobs.

Learn more about EPA’s WIFIA Program and water infrastructure investments under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Background
Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan program administered by EPA. The WIFIA program’s aim is to accelerate investment in the nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects. The WIFIA program has an active pipeline of pending applications for projects that will result in billions of dollars in water infrastructure investment and thousands of jobs.

EPA recently made the 7th round of WIFIA financing available and is currently accepting letters of interest for WIFIA and SWIFIA loans. $6.5B is available through WIFIA, and $1B is available through SWIFIA, which is a loan program exclusively for State infrastructure financing authority borrowers. EPA is currently accepting letters of interest for WIFIA and SWIFIA loans. Learn more about submitting a letter of interest for a WIFIA loan.

In addition to WIFIA loans, there are many federal funding resources available for communities and utilities to improve vital water and wastewater resources. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a historic $50B investment in upgrading critical water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.