USDA to invest $9 million to improve water service in Dallas and Marengo counties

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $9 million to improve water infrastructure in Dallas and Marengo counties.

The announcement was made today by Democratic U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District.

Sewell says the USDA Office of Rural Development has awarded a loan of $2,419,000 and a grant of $6,586,000 to the West Dallas County Water Authority. The $9 million investment will improve the water system in West Dallas and Marengo Counties and benefit more than 7,400 rural residents.

“Access to clean, safe water is a basic human right, and one that too many of my constituents in rural Alabama have gone without,” said Rep. Sewell. “With this $9 million USDA investment, we are taking important steps to improve our water infrastructure for more than 7,400 rural residents in Dallas and Marengo Counties, including those who were not previously connected to water mains. I know this funding will make a tremendous difference here in the Black Belt.”

The improvements include the purchase and installment of new water mains, 31 new fire hydrants, a 200,000-gallon elevated water storage tank and one booster station. The West Dallas County Water Authority will use this funding to connect 115 new customers to the new water mains that will provide a source of drinking water to unreached rural residents of West Dallas and Marengo counties.