EPA Announces $58 Million WIFIA Loan To Upgrade Aging Drinking Water Infrastructure In Rural California

Washington – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a $58 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the Amador Water Agency Financing Corporation in Amador County, California, to make improvements to several drinking water treatment plants, which will increase treatment capacity and reliability. This loan will help address aging infrastructure and increase capacity to meet the county’s current and future water demands.

“Small, rural communities are the backbone of this country, and we must ensure that they have access to clean, safe drinking water,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Jess Kramer. “Congratulations to Amador County for securing $58 million in WIFIA financing. EPA’s WIFIA Loan Program is an effective way for communities to make water infrastructure investment and protect public health. Its flexible financing features and competitive interest rates save communities like Amador millions of dollars.”

EPA’s WIFIA loan will help support the Water System Capital Improvements Project in Amador County, California. This project includes upgrades and improvements to several drinking water treatment plants, giving Amador new infrastructure that will result in cleaner, safer water for residents. Through these improvements, the borrower will be able to provide a more robust water supply for a small, rural community in California, supporting future economic development. The project will also protect the water quality of nearby waterways including the Mokelumne River watershed, which has been designated as a California Wild and Scenic River.

Because the Amador Water Agency serves a small community, the county was afforded the opportunity to finance almost 80% of eligible project costs through WIFIA. EPA’s WIFIA program provides flexibility through the ability to defer principal payments for several years after substantial completion of construction, which will save the Amador Water Agency Financing Corporation $3.8 million over the life of the loan and reduce water bill impacts for ratepayers. Additionally, this loan is estimated to create 248 jobs including both construction and post-construction jobs.

“Amador Water Agency is pleased to utilize the WIFIA borrowing program to fund much needed critical infrastructure replacement projects. This opportunity will save our rate payers millions of dollars in financing costs, which will help control future rate increases,” said Amador Water Agency Interim General Manager Jim Abercrombie.

WIFIA funding is available to support additional water infrastructure projects: up to $6.5 billion is available to water systems and another $550 million is available to State infrastructure financing authorities. EPA is currently accepting letters of interest. 

Learn more about EPA’s WIFIA Program and water infrastructure investments, including how to submit a letter of interest.  

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 aims 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. Since issuing its first loan in 2018, EPA’s WIFIA program has announced $23 billion in financing water infrastructure projects that are strengthening drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure while creating over 172,000 jobs.