Linden to receive grant to help with water issues

The city of Linden will receive a $650,000 to help with its water issues.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the Community Development Block Grant on Monday, to help the city stabilize its water system.

The money will be used to build a new water well after another well began experiencing declining water production. As a result, the city’s utilities board has had to buy water from another water system, which the Governor’s Office said is putting a financial strain on the city.

“Having a clean and plentiful source of water is a fact of life for residents and businesses in any city or town in Alabama,” Gov. Ivey said in a statement. “This grant to the city of Linden will assure water customers that they will continue to have a ready supply of available water for their use.”

Linden’s 25-year-old well near the Dayton community in eastern Marengo County began experiencing a decline in output in 2022 and that water reduction is growing, according to city officials. That decline has caused the Linden water system to have to make up the water loss by purchasing water from the Uniontown and Hale County water systems, an expense the city cannot afford long-term.

The grant money along with $350,000 supplied from the city utilities board will be used to drill a new well to replenish that lost source of water. Along with reducing water purchases from other systems, the new well will replenish the city’s water supply along with lowering operations and maintenance costs for the Linden utilities board.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

— Information from the Office of Governor Kay Ivey