ILLINOIS ALLUVIAL REGIONAL WATER COMPANY breaks ground for Fieldon water treatment plant
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Steven Spencer/River County News
By Steven Spencer
Illinois Alluvial Regional Water Company broke ground last week in Fieldon at the future site of a new water treatment plant.
The treatment plant is being built with a $66 million investment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to provide safe potable water to 367 residents in the Village of Fieldon and 7,750 rural Jersey County residents.
Allen Davenport, Alluvial Board President, said the non-profit has been working for a long time on the project and is excited to see the progress start on the next step.
“This project’s been a long time coming. We started in 2018 with just an analysis by Heneghan and ended up here,” Davenport said. “ We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been through Covid. We’ve been through a lawsuit that went all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court. The biggest thing I think we’ve endured is inflation. But the project is going. I’m excited about the present, a little apprehensive of the future but it will come around.”
Representatives from USDA Rural Development also spoke on the project.
Molly Hammond, Deputy State Director with USDA Rural Development, said they’re proud to be a part of this project.
Dan Jansen said he’s seen small-scale versions of this happen with other nonprofits and it can be very challenging.
“Everybody is an independent and they all have their own ideas,” he said. “Congratulations to you all for sticking this out, working together and finding a solution. It is not simple to do and you all know that very well. We’re not done solving problems yet, but we’re at one of the key parts, getting started.”
USDA Rural Development has said that the funding consists of a $42 million direct loan and a $24 million grant through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program.
Plans include two wells, installing a raw water transmission main, and installing water transmission lines in addition to the treatment plant site.
The project is estimated to be completed in about two years.
