Several communities in northwest Iowa will get upgrades to their water systems to help combat aging infrastructure thanks to grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.
The city of Correctionville and the Lyon & Sioux Rural Water system were awarded a combined total of more than $16 million for upgrades — including a new well, treatment plant and water tower. The USDA investment, mostly in the form of loans, came from the Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants program
April Putzier, clerk for the City of Correctionville, said the funds will help the town of about 760 residents upgrade its “archaic” water treatment facility and a well that is reaching the end of its life.
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USDA awarded Correctionville $651,000 in grant funding and a $5.15 million loan for the upgrades. Putzier said the city started researching upgrades to the well and treatment facility in late 2022 and has been searching for grants, like the one it received from USDA, to make the projects feasible.
“Without (the USDA funding), I mean, I don’t know how the city would even be able to do it,” Putzier said. “Obviously, it’s not covering all of it, but it could potentially be taking over a million dollars of a burden off of its consumers, and that’s huge.”
Putzier said the city has already raised water rates to account for the necessary infrastructure upgrades. She said the base fee for water has been raised from less than $10 per month to more than $35 a month, and the city has increased usage rates from $3-$4 per 1,000 gallons to nearly $9.50 per 1,000 gallons.
Correctionville has not suffered from regular water shortages or excessive contaminants in its water. Putzier said the new well will replace the existing deep well that is nearly 100 years old. She said most wells of that type only last about 70 years as there is no way to reline it.
Putzier said the water treatment facility is so old they can “hardly get” the injectors and pumps that are used in it, and they can’t upgrade to newer treatment technologies without completely remapping the facility.
“It’s taken a lot of hard work, and we are definitely trying to do everything we can to help the residents in our community,” Putzier said. “We need good water quality.”
The recent round of USDA Rural Development investments also included a loan for $10.35 million to construct an 800,000-gallon water tower and associated piping in the Lyon & Sioux Rural Water System.
The city of Macedonia received a grant for $223,000 through the Emergency Community Water Assistance grants program to help construct a new well. According to the release from USDA, the additional well will help boost the city’s water supplies, which currently become insufficient during periods of dry weather and require the city to reduce its pumping rate.
USDA announced a total of more than $19 million in grants and loans to rural Iowa communities to fund upgrades to healthcare and safety equipment and economic development opportunities. The majority of the $19 million went to the water infrastructure projects in northwestern Iowa.
A number of rural utility companies and cooperatives received funding through the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program to establish or replenish revolving loan funds. The funds then help finance community projects, like the construction of a combined emergency services facility in Readlyn, or new radiology equipment at a health center in Kossuth County.
Rural Development Iowa State Director Mike Sexton said economic development in rural communities is “vital” especially in the northwest regions of the state that were flooded in 2024.
“Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Rollins, USDA is helping modernize services and outfit facilities to recover from disaster, strengthen local infrastructure, and unleash economic prosperity for rural Iowa,” Sexton said in a statement.
