Susan McAvoy (202) 720-4623
susan.mcavoy@usda.gov

Claiborne Crain (202) 720-1255
ccrain@rus.usda.gov

GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES $226 MILLION TO IMPROVE RURAL DRINKING WATER

MANSON, NC, July 10, 2000--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today announced that USDA will provide over $226 million to improve drinking water and wastewater service in America's rural areas. The funds, a combination of grants and loans, will benefit 380,000 rural residents through 113 projects in 41 states.

"It is simply unacceptable that at the start of the 21^st Century, there are Americans who have to haul their water from open wells and streams and boil it to make it safe to drink," said Glickman, speaking to citizens of Warren County, North Carolina, which received $5.5 million in loans and grants for a drinking water system. "Investing in the safety and quality of a community's drinking water improves public health, enhances fire protection, expands economic opportunity and conserves precious natural resources."

"Today marks another significant step by our Administration to ensure that all Americans enjoy the safest drinking water possible," Vice President Gore said. "In this time of unprecedented prosperity, we must do all we can to help the nearly 2 million rural Americans who have inadequate drinking water. This administration launched the Water 2000 initiative six years ago to address this serious problem. I am proud of the progress we have made, and we remain committed to investing in rural communities so that no American is left behind."

The Clinton-Gore Administration launched the Water 2000 initiative in August 1994 to address the problem of inadequate drinking water quality and dependability in many rural areas. Approximately 2 million rural Americans have critical drinking water problems. This includes about 690,000 people with no running water at all in their homes, down significantly from an estimated 1.1 million people without water in 1990. An estimated 5 million additional rural residents are affected by less critical, but still significant water supply problems. These include undersized or poorly protected water sources, lack of adequate storage facilities, and antiquated distribution systems.

Glickman highlighted two examples of the 113 water projects announced today:

• In Huron County, Michigan, USDA and other public partners will invest more than $20 million in grants and loans to provide drinkable water to rural communities who presently have high levels of arsenic, barium and iron in the public water supply system. The service area for this project consist of 2,108 residential and business users.



• In Marshall and Roberts Counties in South Dakota, USDA will invest more than $3 million to benefit a low income community in a unique partnership between a nonprofit water association and a tribal government to meet pressing needs for quality drinking water.

Under Water 2000, USDA acts as a lender of last resort, targeting investment to communities that need it most. Water 2000 projects also leverage funds from local water districts, county governments, state agencies and other federal sources to make the most effective use of all available resources. This year, $85.6 million in additional funds will come from these other sources.

Water 2000 has helped upgrade and expand drinking water and waste water disposal services in rural communities having some of the national's worst water quality, quantity, and dependability problems. The assistance package announced today brings the total amount invested through Water 2000 to $2.5 billion, and the number of Americans served to more than 3 million.

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