According to a press release issued by the Oklahoma Water Resource Board (OWRB), the Roland Utility Authority received approval last Tuesday for a $2,276,000 loan with $800,000 in principal forgiveness from the OWRB, to improve the Authority’s water infrastructure.

Construction of upgrades and improvements to the water system will be financed by the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).

The Authority operates a public water system that relies on a single elevated clearwell for water storage and pressure. Because this tank is the only one serving the community, it cannot be taken offline for routine maintenance or repairs without disrupting service.

To address this challenge, the Authority will construct a new 500,000-gallon elevated clearwell and make piping modifications to the existing 1,000,000-gallon tank. This project will provide the redundancy needed to maintain and repair infrastructure without interrupting service. The improvements will help ensure continued water reliability and pressure for Roland residents.

Lori Johnson, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $2,546,100 compared to traditional financing. The DWSRF loan will be secured with a lien on the revenues of the Authority’s water, sewer, and sanitation services and a twocents sales tax.

Roland Utility Authority’s officials attending the OWRB’s monthly meeting in support of the loan application included Town Administrator Monty Lennington.

“I want to thank you all for considering this loan and helping us to increase our capacity and do some much needed repairs for our water tower,” Lennington said.

Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB, and Rob Singletary, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), expressed their sincere appreciation to State Senator Tom Woods and State Representative Jim Olsen for their support of the DWSRF program.

The DWSRF program is administered by the OWRB and ODEQ with partial funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The program has provided approximately $2.4 billion in drinking water loans to provide communities with the resources necessary to maintain and improve the infrastructure that protects our valuable water resources statewide.

Since 1983, the OWRB has approved over $8.2 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.