Legislation to fund water infrastructure improvements in the state is headed to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate on Tuesday.
It would create a $20 million annual loan and financial assistance program to help communities replace things like aging pipes. To be eligible for financial help, cities must try to collaborate with other towns on projects and create a plan for how they’ll use the dollars.
Forty percent of the fund would go to help small water utilities that can't often pay for these expensive improvements on their own.
The Indiana Finance Authority estimates the state needs more than $2 billion in infrastructure improvements.
The bill came as a result of discussions in the Water Infrastructure Task Force that the state created to examine the problem this past summer.
READ MORE: Water Infrastructure Funding Bill Passes House
Indiana Environmental reporting is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute, an Indiana University Grand Challenge project developing Indiana-specific projections and informed responses to problems of environmental change.
