The money comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which distributed $1.9 trillion across the United States in hopes of revitalizing the economy after the downturn caused by COVID-19. Oklahoma received nearly $2 billion in ARPA fundsand state legislature set aside $100 million of which for water supply and sanitation infrastructure projects.

The Oklahoma Water Board split the Water and Wastewater Project Funding into two parts: $48 million for Communities with fewer than 7,000 people and rural water areas with fewer than 2,300 non-grassland water taps and $38.4 million for larger communities.

Of the 55 large communities that applied for ARPA assistance, OWRB recommended 26 for funding. Large communities can request up to $2 million; the average funded project in this group will receive $1.5 million. Larger water supply and sanitation systems were also required to match the funding they received.

OWRB also recommended funding for 50 of the 242 small water and sanitation systems that applied. These communities were eligible for up to $1 million; most approved projects are requested and will receive this maximum and are not required to meet these funds.

In their original ARPA funding applications, many of the small communities that received priority funding said their projects were needed to comply with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality’s compliance orders. Consent orders are agreements between the system and DEQ about the necessary actions to address environmental violations.

In larger communities, prioritized applications tended to refer to legacy infrastructure and take care to prevent future disruptions.

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