Corozal community aqueduct gets $226K from USDA funding program
The agency’s latest investments mark the network’s two-year anniversary.
Acueducto Rural Palmarito Cintrón Inc. in Corozal, Puerto Rico, has received a $226,000 Water and Waste Disposal Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Partner Network (RPN) program for a project that includes purchase and installation of a 30,000-volt amp electrical generator.
The project will “ensure the ability to provide safe drinking water to their community members in the event of any future power outages. The project also funds repairs and replacement to their water tanks, well and access road,” said Maximiliano J. Trujillo, USDA Rural Development’s state director for Puerto Rico.
In 2017, Hurricane María devastated the island’s power grid, and it took more than a year to restore electric power and water service in some areas. These grants aim to secure clean drinking water for future emergencies, agency officials said.
During a recent visit to Puerto Rico, USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres-Small said many of the projects that received funding “would not have been possible without the collaboration between community networks and on-the-ground, federal government staff through RPN.”
“In just two years, the Rural Partners Network has shown that incredible progress is possible when people inside and outside government from all walks of life work together to solve problems and better serve rural people,” added Torres-Small.
The USDA is allocating approximately $144 million in loans and grants to support 56 projects within RPN communities to address immediate needs and develop long-term strategies for economic growth and stability.
Several of the projects will create jobs and business opportunities. Communities will use funding to modernize water and wastewater infrastructure, install clean energy technologies, rehabilitate affordable homes and other improvements.
Launched in April 2022 and expanded in November of the same year, RPN now operates within 36 community networks across 10 states and Puerto Rico.
