The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program accelerates investment in our nation's water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental loans for regionally and nationally significant projects. CHRISTINA RIVER FORCE MAIN REHABILITATION PROJECT BORROWER: New Castle County LOCATION: New Castle County, Delaware TOTAL WIFIA LOAN AMOUNT: $12 million TOTAL WIFIA PROJECT COSTS: $60 million POPULATION SERVED BY PROJECT 330,000 people NUMBER OF JOBS CREATED: 40 jobs PROJECT DESCRIPTION New Castle County's Christina River Force Main Rehabilitation Project will modernize wastewater infrastructure, improve reliability of wastewater service for residents, and reduce the likelihood of catastrophic overflows. With this WIFIA loan, the county will create a bypass by installing approximately 2,000 linear feet of 84-inch force main piping. Constructing this bypass will provide system redundancy and reduce the risk of sanitary sewer overflow events. This is the first loan under a master agreement that will commit a total of $40 million in WIFIA assistance to the county for its force main rehabilitation project. The county is receiving the first WIFIA loan in the state of Delaware, which will benefit approximately one-third of the state's population. The project will help ensure resiliency of the wastewater system, provide capacity for future population growth, and protect the surrounding ecosystem. PROJECT AND FINANCING BENEFITS • Modernizes and ensures resiliency of the wastewater system. • Reduces the likelihood of sanitary sewer overflow events. • Fills a financing gap for this project and provides more flexibility compared to a bond issuance while saving the county an estimated $1 million in interest costs over the life of the loan. WIFIA PROGRAM A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Program Photo credit: New Castle County £\ United States Environmental Protection ^1 Agency WEBSITE: www.epa.gov/wifia EMAIL: wifia@EPA.gov ------- |