Lyon County will receive $11.9 million to help with a wastewater-collection system for residents near Dayton, USDA Rural Development Nevada announced Wednesday.
The grant and loan funds will pay for a collection system for 492 new users currently on septic tanks in the Daytona Heights and Mark Twain areas near Dayton. The plan is designed to protect community health by reducing nitrate problems, according to the Carson City-based office of U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.
““We applaud Lyon County,” said Sarah Adler, USDA rural development state director, “for planning ahead and fixing a problem before it becomes an emergency.”
She said the project shows how partnership among local, state and federal officials can make a difference.
Funds involved include $6.92 million in a loan and $4.98 million in a grant, according to Adler’s news release. Terms of the loan run 40 years at an interest rate of 2.75 percent.
Other financing partners include the Nevada Revolving Loan Fund at $2.5 million, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, $352,500; the state’s Community Development Block Grant program, $158,500; Lyon County, $57,500; and the Carson Water Subconservancy District, $15,000. Total project cost is projected at about $14.9 million.
Homes in the two subdivisions currently use separate septic systems. Historical water-quality data has confirmed that nitrate concentrations have been increasing toward maximum levels allowed by Nevada’s Bureau of Safe Drinking Water regulations.