A grant application submitted by the City of Bartlesville for development of a feasibility study for water reclamation and re-use has been approved, City Grants Administrator Nancy Warring said recently.
The grant will give the City an additional $150,000 in federal funding to continue its study into water re-use and its possible uses for Bartlesville water customers.
“This grant will supplement funding already approved by the City Council and will allow us to amend our current contract with Tetra Tech, Inc.,” Warring said. “Tetra Tech was hired in May 2016 to update the facility plan for the Wastewater Treatment Plant and perform a Water Reuse Feasibility Study. The feasibility study had limited objectives, and with this grant, the scope of the study can be expanded.”
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke recently announced that the Bureau of Reclamation had awarded $23,619,391 to communities in seven states for planning, designing and constructing water recycling and re-use projects, developing feasibility studies, and researching desalination and water recycling projects, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation. The funding is part of the Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse program, the website states.
“This funding provides essential tools for stretching limited water supplies by helping communities reclaim and reuse wastewater and impaired ground or surface waters,” said Zinke. “These tools are just part of the toolkit for bridging the gap between water supply and demand and thus making water supplies more drought-resistant. In addition to this funding, Reclamation is actively supporting state and local partners in their efforts to boost water storage capacity.”
Bartlesville was one of just two cities in Oklahoma to receive the funding.
“These grants are highly competitive,” Warring said. “We very much appreciate the Bureau of Reclamation considering Bartlesville’s application worthy of funding.”
Several letters of support from local agencies were included in the application, Warring said.
“We appreciate the support we received from the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, Bartlesville Development Authority, Bartlesville Fire Department, City of Dewey, Washington County Rural Water District No. 2 and No. 5, and Osage County Rural Water District No. 1,” she said.
For more information, visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART.