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The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) reached a new milestone recently when it passed the $1 billon mark in low-interest loans made to state municipalities and public service districts for wastewater treatment and collection system projects.
The CWSRF program, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the late 1980s, is funded by both federal and state dollars. Since 1992, West Virginia has issued 320 loans for projects that have contributed to a reduction in both point and nonpoint source wastewater discharges into the state’s waterways, as well as nutrient reduction projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
CWSRF loans typically have a one-half percent to 3 percent low-interest rate. The most recent loan that set the $1 billion milestone was provided to the town of Elizabeth, in Wirt County. In addition to funding these types of projects, the CWSRF program also provides funds, through other partners, for nonpoint source projects through an onsite system loan program and an agriculture water quality loan program.
Kathy Emery, an engineer chief in the DEP Department of Water and Waste Management and a manager of the CWSRF program, said, “Our primary goal is to keep the fund running and integrate our repayments into future projects.”
For further information about the CWSRF, visit the DEP’s website at: http://www.dep.wv.gov/WWE/Programs/SRF/Pages/default.aspx. Funding and financial data can be found in the annual Intended Use Plan located on the website as well.