USDA Puerto Rico invests nearly $100K in rural water, energy infrastructure
April 23, 2021
USDA encourages applications that serve the smallest communities with the lowest incomes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing nearly $100,000 in three rural communities in Puerto Rico, Luis R. García, acting state director for the local agency, announced.
“These investments will benefit three rural communities in the municipalities of Adjuntas, Aguada and Fajardo,” García said. “The investments we’re announcing today show how the Biden-Harris Administration has put rural communities at the heart of climate action and climate-smart solutions.”
The investments are:
- $50,000 to the Gabino Negrón Community of the Cerro Gordo sector of Aguada, which was without electric power for a year after Hurricane María made landfall in September 2017. The island’s power grid collapsed, leaving this rural community without its rural aqueduct. They requested funds to buy a generator that will provide back-up energy when needed. This investment of will provide access to reliable water to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act. This aqueduct serves 1,000 people.
- $25,300 to the Garzas Centro Aeropuerto Inc. of Adjuntas, which was also left in the dark for seven months. The funding will go toward buying an electric generator that will provide back-up power. This investment will also comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, serving 120 families.
- $21,000 for the residents of the San Rita neighborhood in Fajardo, to finance a preliminary report to evaluate practical options to manage their sanitary water system. The housing complex was constructed with a sewer system that with time is causing sanitary spill. The community seeks to identify the needed repairs to solve those sanitary issues and connect with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority system. The project will benefit 726 people.
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This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
