May 10, 2024 3:30 a.m. 

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have announced that Douglas County will receive $1.22 million in drought resiliency funding as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

A release said in Douglas County, the Tri-City Joint Water and Sanitary Authority will use its resources from the Bureau of Reclamation to build a new 300,000-gallon potable water storage tank and associated infrastructure, significantly improving water delivery efficiency, which will bolster drought resilience.

Douglas County Commissioner Tim Freeman said, “We are excited that Tri-City Joint Water and Sanitary Authority was selected for this much needed grant award”. Freeman said, “Our small rural communities struggle to find the resources to update necessary infrastructure and the opportunity to apply and successfully win a grant that will more than triple their existing water supply system capacity is just fantastic”.

Paul Wilborn, General Manager of the agency said, “Small communities like ours face significant challenges concerning funding for needed infrastructure”.  Wilborn said, “Our team has sought funding for this important project for several years. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding enables the project to move ahead. Our ability to protect our residents from natural hazard, such as wildfire, will be significantly enhanced through increased emergency water storage and fire flow, and supply redundancy that will enable uninterrupted water service even during maintenance operations”.

The release said Lane County will receive $4 million from the legislation as well.