Apr 17, 2023

I recently traveled to Torrey, New York to break ground on the town’s first-ever water district. This project has been more than 20 years in the making and it will improve the health and lives of people living in rural parts of the state. It will also improve the water quality and conservation efforts on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The town received $2.4 million in funding through Usda Rural Development’s Water and Environmental Program (WEP). Once completed, this project will bring safe and reliable water to more than 40 households. I was joined by town and community leaders – both past and present – as well as the engineers from Clark Patterson Lee and Nardozzi construction teams who will be building out the new waterline.

“The residents in this area have trouble with water from the lake or their wells are prone to dry out,” Town Supervisor Peter Martini said. “Some of the wells are inadequate for residential use. Once reliable wells are getting less reliable. If everything goes as planned, residents should have water from the new line by this summer.”

As Earth Day approaches, projects like this one make me proud to invest in our planet and in rural America. It is an example of how USDA is partnering with rural communities to build critical infrastructure that will create jobs for people across the state and the nation.

Every community needs access to modern water and wastewater systems – especially rural residents and businesses throughout New York state.

USDA is proud to celebrate Earth Day to show how we are investing in locally driven solutions like this one in rural New York to expand access to safe water and reliable wastewater infrastructure, renewable energy and essential services that create jobs, build critical infrastructure and create sustainable futures for rural America.

To learn more about this program, please visit USDA’s Water and Environmental Program page. If you have questions about USDA Rural Development programs in New York, contact our state office in Syracuse at (315) 477 – 6400 ext. 4. You can also follow us on Twitter at @RD_NewYork.

For more stories like this one that show how USDA Rural Development is celebrating Earth Day across the nation visit our Success Stories webpage or follow @usdaRD and @BioPreferred on Twitter.

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