The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced nearly $5 million in grants to help improve water access and health care facilities in rural Iowa communities.
Fayette, Wayne, Taylor, Crawford and Pottawattamie counties are recipients of the grants announced Wednesday by Iowa Rural Development Director Mike Sexton.
“At Rural Development, we believe our Iowa farms and small towns are part of the bedrock that supports our country,” Sexton said in a statement. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Rollins, USDA is helping to deliver more reliable water supplies and healthcare facilities to make rural Iowa a better place to live and work.”
The water system grants for Denison Municipal Utilities and the City of Macedonia follow several summers of water shortages, boil orders and water conservation orders in the southwestern municipalities.
Denison received a $1 million grant to help construct a rock riffle dam to help “recharge” the utility’s well field, according to a news release. A rock riffle dam places rocks in a stream, in this case the East Boyer River, to control the grade of the stream. According to the release, the dam will help provide a more consistent water supply for the community, “especially during drought conditions.”
Another grant, in the amount of $580,000, was awarded to the City of Macedonia for the construction of a new well into the city’s existing well field. Currently, according to the release, the city has to reduce the pumping rate of the well during dry weather conditions and the supply is often “insufficient” for the city with 267 residents.
The City of Clearfield was awarded a $29,000 grant to help complete an evaluation of the city’s wastewater system. The release said the study is a “necessary first step” to determine the cost of alternative systems and system improvements.
Two grants, through the Community Facilities grant program, will help to improve health care centers in Wayne County and Fayette County.
A slightly more than $2 million grant to Wayne County Hospital in Corydon will fund a nearly 5,000-square-foot addition to the hospital for a modern dialysis center.
Palmer Lutheran Health Center Inc. received $1.1 million to renovate obstetrics facilities at the Gunderson Heath System clinic in West Union. The announcement said the funding will improve delivery and postpartum resources for the area.
Fayette County, like many rural areas, has few maternal health care options, according to mapping from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
