MWRA -MWRA Provides City of Newton with $3.7 Million from Landmark Expansion of Community I/I Program

DATE:

January 6, 2015

CONTACTS:

City of Newton, Meaghan Maher
617-796-1100, mmaher@newtonma.gov

MWRA Advisory Board, Matt Romero
617-788-2054, matthew.romero@mwraadvisoryboard.com

MWRA, Ria Convery
(617) 788-1105, ria.convery@mwra.com

Seals of City of Newton, MA; MWRA; MWRA Advisory Board

MWRA Provides City of Newton with $3.7 Million from Landmark Expansion of Community I/I Program

Today, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the MWRA Advisory Board announced a new round of funding to help member communities repair and rehabilitate local sewer lines. The City of Newton will receive $3.7 million under this program.

“In recent years, the City of Newton has developed a comprehensive strategic plan to improve its aging sewer infrastructure and this program has helped fund critical repairs. Since 2013, we removed approximately 273,000 gallons of extraneous sewer flow, saving $1.6 million through reduced MWRA assessments. The expansion of this program will provide us with an additional $3.7 million, funding construction and repairs to the sewers in Lower Falls, Chestnut Hill, Newton Centre and Newtonville,” Mayor Setti Warren said.

MWRA, working together with the MWRA Advisory Board, recently doubled funding available to communities through its local Infiltration/Inflow (I/I) program. Since the Program was initiated in 1993, over $261 million has been made available to communities in the MWRA sewer system to fund 459 local I/I reduction and sewer system rehabilitation projects.

Infiltration/Inflow is excess water that enters the wastewater systems of both the MWRA and its 43 member communities through a variety of sources. High levels of I/I reduce pipeline capacity in the sewer system. During extreme storm events, this may cause back-up of sewage into homes and businesses, local overflows of untreated sewage and increased operating costs. I/I also results in the transport of groundwater and surface water out of the natural watershed, which may adversely impact groundwater and surface water resource areas.

MWRA Provides City of Newton with $3.7 Million from Landmark Expansion of Community I/I Program

MWRA's Community Support Program:
Infiltration/Inflow Local Financial Assistance

List of I/I Local Financial Assistance Projects in Newton (PDF)

“These are the most significant changes the program has seen since its inception,” stated Advisory Board Chair Katherine Dunphy, “and all of these dollars are available to our communities to repair and replace local wastewater infrastructure.” Two phases of funding totaling $160 million have been added, effectively doubling the amount of the previous phases. Moreover, beginning with Phase 9, the program will now feature a 75% grant/25% interest-free loan mix up from a 45% grant/55% loan split in the prior phases. The repayment period for the zero-interest loans has also doubled from five years to ten years.

“There is no better example of a program that is good for the environment and great for our communities,” said MWRA’s executive director Fred Laskey. “With the huge investments our ratepayers have made to build and maintain the Deer Island Treatment Plant, it only makes sense to ensure that the sewer lines that transport the flow can get it there.”

MWRA Advisory Board Executive Director Joseph Favaloro stated that “At a time when funding for infrastructure has dwindled while communities’ needs have dramatically increased, we’re thrilled to partner with the MWRA in providing this vital resource for cities and towns.”

The estimated average daily flow reduction associated with completed local I/I reduction projects that have received MWRA financial assistance is about 85 million gallons per day, or 31 billion gallons a year, which is the equivalent of 47,000 Olympic sized swimming pools, or enough to fill the Prudential about two and a half times.