Gov. Henry McMaster recently proposed a $500 million investment fund intended to improve rural infrastructure conditions across the state.
“A lot of times we forget about water and wastewater because it is underground but it is as important to economic development as roads and workforce,” Todd Glover, Municipal Association of South Carolina executive director, said in a governor’s office release. “Access to these funds will be transformative to cities and towns across our state.”
McMaster’s proposal use funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) in an effort to revitalize the state’s water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. McMaster said in the release that a modernized rural statewide water system would deliver safe and clean drinking water and boost economic development.
McMaster and Glover were joined by South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA), Municipal Association of South Carolina, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, and members of the General Assembly, in announcing the investment proposal.
In an effort to promote further economic development in these areas, the funding will mainly work in tier III and tier IV counties, selected based on unemployment rate and per capita income. The lower the county’s score, the higher the tier, an indicator of poor modernized systems with little opportunity to attract new jobs and investment, the state news site continues, according to the governor’s office release.
Through the initiative, state officials also intend to upgrade water and wastewater systems that are not in compliance with state regulations, most of which are housed in rural communities that lack resources and tax funds to carry out the improvement themselves, to safe proof the conditions of drinking water to ensure the public’s health, the governor’s office release said.
In addition, small municipal water and sewer systems will also be connected to large ones to minimize the cost of service.
