$12.1 million is on its way to communities in rural Alaska for sanitation project development—including water, wastewater and solid waste systems that can improve health by addressing dire sanitation conditions, like a lack of indoor plumbing.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced at AFN that the communities of Quinhagak, Shageluk, Nunapitchuk, Buckland, and Akiachak will receive grants from the USDA’s branch of Rural Development. The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) were also awarded funds for the maintenance of rural Alaskan utility systems.
Vilsack visited Alaska in 2009 and said through meeting with community leaders and program partners, he recognized that Rural Develoment’s sanitation programs needed to be more accessible for rural Alaska. Through a streamlined application process, more than $200 million for rural Alaskan sanitation has been acquired since 2009.
And the USDA also recently announced a Cooperative Agreement between their Rural Development branch and the Association of Village Council Presidents. The two organizations hope to provide better service to residents of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region by working together. The agreement states that AVCP will now be assisting the USDA in projects, outreach, and community and economic development in the region.
