Dix receives $600K grant for water system upgrades

The Village of Dix was awarded $616,000 for improvements to its water system.

Funding for the project is being provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s water and waste disposal loan and grant program.

The grant will cover the total cost of developing a new well, well house and well control system, along with the replacement of aging water mains and valves.

Natalie Furrow, a USDA community programs specialist, said the project will serve the Village of Dix in the present and for years to come.

The community previously had three wells to supply water for residents, but two have been shut down for different reasons, she explained.

“They only have one well right now,” Furrow said. “If something were to happen, there’d be no water for the town.”

The new well that will be constructed with the USDA funds will serve as a backup and be linked to the existing well to provide redundancy. Additionally, older water mains in the community will be replaced.

Furrow said she didn’t know the exact date work will begin, but since plans and specs still need to be finalized, it’d likely be in 2016.

The USDA program funding the project assists rural areas with grants and loans for drinking water systems, sewage and solid waste disposal and storm water management.

“USDA’s investments in rural communities support the rural way of life that stands as the backbone of our American values,” a media release from the agency states.

Furrow said the money for Dix was awarded after officials from the community submitted an application that included a preliminary engineering report describing the proposed scope of the project.

Numerous other communities throughout Nebraska have received funding through the program, she said. In some cases, water mains were replaced because they were leaking, and, in others, wells were relocated because they were pumping water that contained contaminants.

“At that point, an engineer pin points where there is good water, or in some cases there is no good water, so they have to do a water treatment plant,” she said.

A call to the Village of Dix was not returned before press deadline.