EPA Announces $272 Million WIFIA Loan to Support Drinking Water in Columbia, Tennessee 

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $272 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the city of Columbia, Tennessee, known as “Muletown,” with a population of about 50,000. This loan will help Columbia implement expansions to its drinking water system, increasing capacity and system reliability to deliver safe drinking water throughout the city and nearby rural communities. The Trump EPA’s investments in America deliver on the agency’s “Powering the Great American Comeback” initiative, which advances public health while powering the American economy.  

“Working on this WIFIA Loan with Columbia, Tennessee, has helped advance the Trump EPA’s goal of making sure water is working for Main Street USA,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Jess Kramer. “Ensuring safe drinking water is critical to supporting growing populations and growing economies like in Columbia. This $272 million WIFIA loan will help us do just that and continues to prove that we can protect public health while bolstering local economies.”  

“We are proud to proactively take steps to complete this necessary project to ensure the long-term viability of clean drinking water in our region,” said Jack Baxster, Interim CEO and President for Columbia Power & Water Systems. “Capitalizing on the most advantageous available financing, such as the WIFIA loan, we are locking in future savings for our ratepayers.”  

The city of Columbia will use WIFIA financing for its Long Term Water Supply Program, which will expand its drinking water system to continue providing water for its growing regional population. This project includes construction of a new raw water intake structure, transmission main, and improvements to the system’s existing water treatment plant. Through these upgrades the city will increase drinking water supply reliability for its customers and provide water to rural communities within the city’s service area.  

EPA’s WIFIA loan enables Columbia to meet increased demands due to population and economic growth while delivering for its communities and businesses. The program will provide Columbia flexibility through the ability to customize repayment schedules – saving the city millions over the life of the loan. Additionally, this project is expected to drive meaningful economic impact and support a substantial number of jobs during the construction process and beyond. 

Since issuing its first loan in 2018, EPA’s WIFIA program has announced $24 billion in financing for water infrastructure projects that are strengthening drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure while creating over 177,000 jobs. Through its flexible financing features and competitive interest rates, WIFIA helps communities save money, and even accelerate water infrastructure investments.  

WIFIA has approximately $11 billion in flexible financing available to support additional water infrastructure projects across the country, including in small communities and rural America where WIFIA can finance up to 80% of project costs. To help small communities access WIFIA funding, the agency recently announced a commitment to waive WIFIA application and credit processing fees. Additionally, the agency’s State WIFIA program has approximately $3 billion available for loans to state infrastructure financing authorities. EPA is currently accepting letters of interest for funding through WIFIA and State WIFIA.  

Learn more about EPA’s WIFIA Program and water infrastructure investments, including how to submit a letter of interest.  

Background    

Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan program administered by EPA. The program aims to accelerate investment in the nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects. The WIFIA program has an active pipeline of pending applications for projects that will result in billions of dollars in water infrastructure investment and thousands of jobs.