Rio Dell, Calif. — It’s the stuff of horror movies: black water oozing from the faucets of repulsed and mystified small town residents. Unfortunately, just such scenes have been all too real for residents of tiny Rio Dell, California.
Here, an aging water system replete with pipes encrusted with manganese and iron at times led to black, smelly tap water or a shutdown in water pressure altogether. And while such problems may seem extraordinary and certainly isolated in this day and age, government statistics show otherwise.
In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that over the next two decades the nation’s 53,000 community water systems and 21,400 nonprofit water systems will require about $276 billion dollars just to ensure compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
In Rio Dell, water system issues will soon be a thing of the past thanks to a unique collaborative $3.6 million loan from Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) and the Headwaters Fund of Humboldt County.
**Quote from Rio Dell official** (about project, uniqueness of loan, etc.)
The loan to the City of Rio Dell will act as bridge funding until promised $5 million and $2.2 million grant funds are received from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Revolving Fund (SRF) respectively.
The money will be used to complete a system overhaul, which will replace 40,000 feet of aging pipe with new pipeline and two old 250,000 gallon water tanks with two new tanks with capacities of 500,000 and 27,000 gallons.
New transmission mains will greatly reduce the problem of water main breaks and also improve water pressure. The project will increase water flow, lower energy costs, reduce operation and maintenance costs and improve water quality.
A concurrent project will replace what was originally built as a temporary water supply facility with a permanent water infiltration gallery to ensure reliable, safe water service to the more than 3,000 Rio Dell residents.
“RCAC is very please to be able to provide this loan to the City of Rio Dell to help ensure clean, safe, reliable water to the residents of the community,” said Mike Flanagan, director of RCAC’s Loan Fund.
Headquartered in West Sacramento, California, and serving 13 western states, RCAC is a nonprofit agency providing technical assistance and training to rural communities seeking to develop a wide range of local services including, community facilities, affordable housing and water treatment facilities. The organization operates a loan fund with $58 million in lending capital that provides low-interest loans and grants to further rural communities’ goals. RCAC maintains field offices in Ukiah and San Marcos, California.