Gov. Andy Beshear awarded $5,326,965 to three water utilities in Warren and Edmonson counties in an effort to deliver clean drinking water and improved sewer and water systems.

As part of the Better Kentucky Plan’s $250 million Cleaner Water Program, the initiative is estimated to create about 3,800 jobs across the state.

Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and administered by the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority, $250 million was appropriated at the close of the 2021 General Assembly through a bipartisan agreement for clean drinking water and wastewater grants to fund projects across Kentucky.

“As our economy stays on fire, Warren and Edmonson counties will use these investments to build a better Kentucky, providing additional opportunity for economic and residential growth,” Beshear said Thursday in a statement. “The last few months have been challenging for our folks hit by the December storms, but these funds will help move us forward and ensure access to clean water, a basic human right.”

The Barren River Area Development District previously submitted funding requests for the projects to the KIA.

To meet requirements of the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule, Bowling Green Municipal Utilities will receive $1,990,000 to identify materials for each service line and confirm or rule out locations of galvanized lead and copper lines throughout the system. This will involve excavation at nearly 20,000 locations on each side of customers’ meter boxes.

BGMU Customer Relations Manager Christy Twyman called the grant a “big blessing.”

“It just allows us to take a better inventory of what we have,” Twyman said. “Water infrastructure tends to take a back seat because water lines are out of sight and out of mind. This will help us maintain what people expect to have in their everyday lives.”

BGMU will also invest $450,372 to replace deteriorated meter yoke sets and lead goose necks with new service lines and modern meter sets.

Twyman said the EPA has a compliance deadline of September, 2024. So, the recently allocated money will be used within the next couple of years.

The Warren County Water District will receive $2,080,000 for the Southwest Parkway Interceptor project that will add 7,225 feet of gravity sewer line and eliminate an aging lift station.

WCWD General Manager John Dix said the project will support and enable local industrial, commercial and residential expansion.

“Our growth in the southern portion of Warren County has just been tremendous,” Dix said. “That’s why these improvements are needed. It’s also going to take care of some aging infrastructure. We just really appreciated it (the funding). A lot of our leadership has been a part of this throughout. We can’t thank the city mayor (Todd Alcott) and Judge (Mike) Buchanon enough. We are headed in the right direction.”

The water district also will invest $360,372 to install 5,500 feet of water line, increasing the capacity to serve growth in the area and to provide adequate fire protection for commercial and residential developments.

The Edmonson County Water District will receive $446,221 for water line and pump station improvements that will provide improved service to more than 1,600 underserved customers.

“On behalf of the county and the water board, I’m appreciative (of) the governor providing this funding which will help our county repair infrastructure and complete these critical projects for our Edmonson County families,” Edmonson County Judge-Executive Wil Cannon said in a statement.

The governor also presented a $1 million Community Development Block Grant, administered by the Department for Local Government, to the City of Bowling Green and its partner Live the Dream Development Inc. to support affordable housing.

A press release from the governor’s office said Bowling Green city officials demonstrated the need for affordable rental housing has increased exponentially due to two catastrophic factors: the COVID-19 pandemic and the Dec. 11 tornadoes.

This grant will fund the construction of 10 new housing units owned, maintained and operated by LTD to serve renters with low to moderate incomes.