The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency entered into a formal agreement with Indian Health Service to provide more than $23 million for a new water treatment plant in Oregon.
The formal agreement will fully fund the new water treatment plant at Warm Springs Indian Reservation in north-central Oregon, according to EPA's Dec. 20 news release. EPA is expected to provide more than $10.2 million while IHS is expected to provide more than $13.6 million toward the water treatment project. Almost all the funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
"The Interagency Agreement between EPA and IHS fully funds a new, modern plant that will ensure access to clean and safe drinking water for the 3,800 people in the Warm Springs community," EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller said in the news release. "This is the largest Tribal water system award in Region 10, and we’re proud to be a part of such a historic investment in our community."
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs' leadership spent the last several years prioritizing the work with EPA, IHS and other federal and state agencies to plan the project, the release reported. The community presently is served by the Warm Springs Public Water System, which is an aging water treatment plant that was temporarily closed earlier this year due to a fire.
The new plant is expected to treat water from the Deschutes River with up-to-date technologies and to ensure consistent high quality drinking water standards. Design phase of the project is expected to begin in 2023, according to the release.
"I am grateful that our senators, EPA and IHS have all stepped up to tackle the water quality challenge at Warm Springs," Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation Tribal Council Chairman Jonathan Smith said in the news release. "This is an historic investment that will be deeply appreciated by Warm Springs people for decades to come."
