Water Resources Directory/Funding/USA/Georgia

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Programs under the 2002 Farm Bill

USDA Rural Development - water and wastewater disposal projects funded

National Rural Development Partnership
Georgia has no State Rural Development Council under this USDA program.

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
"The DWSRF was established by the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments to provide (low or no-interest) loans to publicly and privately owned public water systems for infrastructure improvements needed to protect public health and ensure compliance with the SDWA. As of June 30, 2002, the DWSRF had provided 2,500 loans for $5.1 billion to water systems for eligible projects."  Eligible projects include:
 * enhancing water system management and performance
 * preventing contamination problems
 * source water protection
 * water efficiency activities and programs

Clean Water State Revolving Fund
The CWSRF program was established under the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1987 to provide loans for point source (§212), nonpoint source (§319), and estuary (§320) projects. As of June 30, 2002, the CWSRF program had privided 12,500 loans for $42.4 billion for water quality protection projects. The CWSRF funds approximately $3 to $4 billion in water quality projects each year. Water efficiency and reuse activities and projects may be considered point sources if they are developed as a component of a (publicly owned) wastewater treatment works (§212 project)."

Restoration Credits
Under the U.S. Clean Water Act provisions for wetlands protection (section 404), owners of proposed projects which will cause unavoidable wetlands damage must provide for mitigation of that damage as a condition for receiving a 404b permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. One mitigation method is for the project owner to restore sufficient ecological function to compensate for the unavoidable damage to be caused by his proposed project. Or the project owner may buy "ecological credits" from someone else who has already restored ecological function, such as by removing an existing dam, as described in news article about removal of the Lowell Dam on Little River in North Carolina.