U.S. Dept. of Agriculture money will be used for water system improvements
By Clara Kilbourn
LITTLE RIVER - The decades-old water system in this rural Rice County community is headed for upgrades with help from a $1.027 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development low-interest loan.
Kansas has been targeted for a total $30.2 million in loans for water district systems and wastewater projects as a part of the 2002 Farm Bill, state director Chuck Banks said.
The Little River plan calls for an overhaul of the old system with a new 100,000-gallon water tower, and an additional new well.
"It needs to be done," city clerk Sue Peters said. "The old system was put in in the teens, so it's been there a while."
The city will construct 20,000 feet of water lines, refurbish of existing water wells and provide a backup source of water, by connecting the city to Rice County Water District No. 1, said Gary Smith, Kansas USDA director for community and business programs.
Additional funds to complete the project include a $500,000 USDA grant and a $166,000 contribution from city funds.
Peters said the water storage capacity will triple with the addition of a second tower. They will keep the present 50,000-gallon water tower.
The announcement of the loan, through U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Dodge City, and USDA administrator Hilda Legg, assures that the money is coming, Peters said.
This allows the city to move forward on a timetable that begins with securing an approved design and moves through the bidding process, Peters said. A completion date for the project has not yet been set.
"We're still at the beginning stages," she said.
Approximately 500 users are in the Little River system.
A $14 million loan allowed for a water project in Neosho and Wilson counties in southeast Kansas is the largest USDA loan nationwide, Banks said. Other Kansas towns named to receive loans include Atwood in the northwest corner of the state and Oswego, in the southeast. The two are slated for $3 million loans.
Value-added proposals
In addition to direct and guaranteed loans for rural water and wastewater treatment systems, USDA Rural Development funds are available for housing and value-added agricultural projects through the 2002 Farm Bill, Banks said.
Value-added proposals are requested from independent farmers and ranchers and producer groups.
Ethanol production, hormone-free beef, organic vegetables, soybean processing and hi-protein corn are some of the 16 proposals that have been made this year.
"The bottom line is that for ag producers and communities to truly achieve economic profitability, we have to figure a way to add value to the raw commodities we raise and produce," Banks said. "There's an awful difference when you are buying at retail and welling what you produce at wholesale and try to make a profit. It's a thin margin."
For more information about USDA Rural Development through the 2002 Farm Bill and other USDA programs, call (785) 271-2700 or visit the Web site www.rurdev.usda.gov/ks/.
Reporter Clara Kilbourn can be reached at ckilbourn@hutchnews.com or at (620) 694-5700, ext. 321.
Copyright 2002 The Hutchinson News
Original story on-line at http://www.hutchnews.com/past/08-26-2002/region/region1.html