Keep Funds Flowing: SRF loans deliver big savings and clearer water for Utah residents
September 18, 2025
AWWA Articles
Keep Funds Flowing: SRF loans deliver big savings and clearer water for Utah residents
For most of its supply, the Granger-Hunter Improvement District in West Valley City, Utah, purchases water sourced from mountain reservoirs near Park City.
But about one-quarter of the supply comes from groundwater containing high levels of iron, manganese and ammonia, which can turn water in homes brown, black or yellow. While it doesn’t exceed primary drinking water standards, the water is not appealing to drink and often stained clothes.
“It’s not ideal,” says Todd Marti, assistant general manager and engineer at the Granger-Hunter Improvement District, which provides drinking water to 130,000 residents.
As drought conditions persisted and the district’s reliance on groundwater increased, so did the complaints about water clarity. Coupled with growing concerns about lead in water — sparked by the Flint, Michigan, crisis 10 years ago — district leaders decided to commission a study of its groundwater.
When it became clear they would need to install an oxidation and filtration system, it was a local firm that clued them into the federal funding available to support projects like these.
“That first loan was $20 million,” Marti said. “And what we were most excited about was that it was at a 1.25% interest rate” — far below market rates. “That saved our residents somewhere around $5 million over the life of the loan.”
The loan he is referring to is through the ), which provides low-cost financing to utilities for infrastructure upgrades and other improvements. As utilities pay off the loans, the money is reinvested — so every $1 in federal allocation results in $2 in infrastructure investment.
SRFs and other federal programs like these are currently facing cuts in the U.S. Congress. In response, the American Water Works Association is elevating stories of infrastructure improvements to underscore the critical nature of these programs.
For the Granger-Hunter Improvement District, the loan not only covered construction of the new Rushton Groundwater Treatment Plant but also allowed for the replacement of aging cast iron pipelines, all over 50 years old.
The project was completed in late 2023, and water quality complaints dropped by two-thirds — from around 500 annually to just 150. Residents in the affected areas now enjoy clearer, cleaner water, and the district has a sustainable path forward for groundwater use.
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The district’s success hasn’t stopped there. It has since secured additional federal funding, including a grant for emerging contaminants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and another low-interest SRF loan for pipeline and pump station upgrades. These efforts have saved ratepayers an additional $5 million in interest — and avoided significant rate hikes.
“We did a master plan a few years ago, and the consultant told us, to keep up with our plans, we’d have to raise rates by 30% in one year,” Marti said. “And of course, our board did not want to do that.”
Instead, the district has increased rates more incrementally, by 5%-7% each year, and relied on SRFs to fill in the funding gaps.
“It’s one of the really good selling points for SRFs,” Marti said. “If you have immediate needs and your board, rightfully so, doesn’t want to go to the extreme [rate increases], this helps — especially with the subsidized low rates — to bridge the costs.”
For utilities like Granger-Hunter Improvement District, which has limited financial resources and serves an economically disadvantaged community, Marti recommends engaging congressional representatives as much as possible. “Getting your reps inside your plants helps them understand the real-world need for infrastructure funding,” he said.
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