Louisiana Lawmakers Eyeing Hurricanes Tackle Water System Upgrades insurancejournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from insurancejournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The need to harden water infrastructure is an obvious, bipartisan issue.
When Hurricane Laura struck a wide path of destruction across Louisiana in August, it knocked out 121 water systems and temporarily left hundreds of thousands of people without water. Another 150-plus water systems had disruptions that required people to boil their water for safe use.
The February winter storm that dropped snow and ice across Louisiana walloped the systems again, leaving hundreds of thousands without potable water and hospitals trucking in water for patient care.
William Daniel, director of Shreveport’s water and sewerage system, believes even the multibillion-dollar estimates of the problem are understated. He told lawmakers the city of Shreveport, which suffered a week of water outages in February, probably has $2 billion in needs alone.
Analysis: Louisiana lawmakers tackle water system upgrades sfgate.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfgate.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The City of Oakdale announced Friday that it has been awarded a $3.8 million loan through the Louisiana Office of Public Health’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund (DWRLF) program to make improvements to its local water system, thereby ensuring quality drinking water for its customers.
Special to USA Today Network
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BATON ROUGE The Cadeville Water District in Ouachita Parish has been awarded $1.46 million by the Louisiana Department of Health’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund Program to consolidate with the Robinson Chapel Water System in Jackson Parish to provide safer, quality drinking water to customers in the service area.
According to a news release from the Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund, customers will see a reduction in their monthly water rates with the consolidation. Currently, Robison Chapel water customers are paying $25 per month, but that will be reduced to $19 per month once the connection to the Cadeville Water District’s system is completed.