{"id":26086,"date":"2016-02-11T15:22:57","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T21:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=26086"},"modified":"2016-02-11T15:22:57","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T21:22:57","slug":"state-budget-crisis-could-leave-small-towns-with-big-infrastructure-problems-dead-in-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/02\/11\/state-budget-crisis-could-leave-small-towns-with-big-infrastructure-problems-dead-in-the-water\/","title":{"rendered":"State Budget Crisis Could Leave Small Towns With Big Infrastructure Problems &#8216;Dead in the Water&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26098\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26098\" alt=\"Corn, Okla., Mayor Barbara Nurnberg outside city hall in January 2016. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic1.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Corn, Okla., Mayor Barbara Nurnberg outside city hall in January 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>It costs a lot of money to clean, transport and dispose of water. Big cities can spread the cost of multi-million dollar sewer or treatment projects across thousands of customers. But many small Oklahoma towns don\u2019t have that option, and often rely on a state-funded grant program that\u2019s being squeezed by budget cuts.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/246560862&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><!--more-->Crumbling infrastructure<\/h3><p>Tiny <a title=\"WikipediaLink\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Corn,_Oklahoma\" target=\"_blank\">Corn, Oklahoma,<\/a> has a big problem. A proper town needs a reliable sewer system, but the lagoon that\u2019s supposed to hold the town\u2019s wastewater has holes in it.<\/p><p>Repairing the lagoon will take hundreds of thousands of dollars Corn \u2014 population 503 \u2014 doesn\u2019t have. And for those who love this little down, like Mayor Barbara Nurnberg, it brings up a scary prospect.<\/p><p>\u201cWe have to find funding, and so that means we\u2019ll have to go into debt and get a loan \u2014 if we can find someplace that will loan us that kind of money,\u201d she says.<\/p><p>But giant loans have to be paid back, and that tab would go to Corn\u2019s residents in the form of higher water bills.<\/p><p>\u201cIf we have to raise them really high to cover our loan costs then people leave town because it\u2019s too expensive to live here, we\u2019ll have to raise them again in order to meet that loan payment,\u201d Nurnberg says. \u201cBut if you don\u2019t fix the infrastructure we\u2019re dead in the water anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26101\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26101\" alt=\"One of the fissures in a lagoon the town of Corn, Okla. uses to manage its wastewater. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic3.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic3.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic3-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic3-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic3-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the fissures in a lagoon the town of Corn, Okla. uses to manage its wastewater.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Corn has deeply German roots. It used to be K-O-R-N, until anti-German sentiment during World War I led to a spelling a change. Now it\u2019s C-O-R-N. It\u2019s a town <a title=\"OKhistoryLink\" href=\"http:\/\/www.okhistory.org\/publications\/enc\/entry.php?entry=CO060\" target=\"_blank\">with a rich history<\/a>.<\/p><p>The story is the same <a title=\"OKhistorylink\" href=\"http:\/\/www.okhistory.org\/publications\/enc\/entry.php?entry=MC016\" target=\"_blank\">McCurtain: <\/a>Town of 500 people, $100,000 water project.<\/p><p>McCurtain, in far eastern Oklahoma, saw its heyday long ago \u2014 in this case, until a mine explosion killed dozens of coal miners in 1912. Every Thursday, older residents gather at City Hall for a lunch of mushroom stroganoff and cornbread.<\/p><p>One resident says his family has been drinking bottled water for the past few years out of concern about the quality.<\/p><p>McCurtain Mayor Harvey Way insists the town\u2019s water is safe, but isn\u2019t able to meet water quality standards that are growing more stringent.<\/p><p>\u201cWe need a station to boost the chlorine to improve the water condition,\u201d he says. Paying for those improvements, however, is nearly impossible.<\/p><p>\u201cYou talk about trouble, you try to raise the water rate here and see what happens,\u201d Way says. \u201cYou might see us going up there digging a hole in the tower and pouring chlorine into it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>A state funding rollercoaster<\/h3><p>A town needs water, and without it, little communities like McCurtain and Corn could shrivel up and disappear. Back in the mid-&#8217;90s, the state legislature agreed, and tried to help cash-strapped towns with the <a title=\"OWRBlink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.owrb.ok.gov\/financing\/grant\/reapgrants.php\" target=\"_blank\">Rural Economic Action Plan grant program.<\/a><\/p><p>\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have things like REAP grants, we\u2019d be completely out,\u201d Way says.<\/p><p>REAP money for water projects comes from the state. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board approves the grants, and executive director J.D. Strong says continued state budget cuts will mean longer waits for a growing number of small towns with big water problems.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26100\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26100\" alt=\"Dale Kennedy, operator of the water system in McCurtain, Okla., near the town's water tower in January 2016. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic21.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic21.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic21-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic21-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/PHOTO-2-11-Pic21-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dale Kennedy, operator of the water system in McCurtain, Okla., near the town&#39;s water tower in January 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>\u201cA lot of them simply can\u2019t qualify for enough loan financing to meet their needs,\u201d Strong says.<\/p><p>Two years ago the OWRB divvied out more than $1 million in REAP grants to small towns and rural water systems. Last year they gave out about $2 million. So far this fiscal year, the agency has only approved about $900,000 dollars. The number of grant requests, meanwhile, has soared: From 25 in 2014 to nearly 80 in 2016.<\/p><p>The need for grant money is growing while the amount of state appropriations funding the grant program is shrinking, Strong says.<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p><p>\u201cIf we continue to see these cuts I think we will continue to see rural Oklahoma struggle,&#8221; he says. &#8220;They are more heavily reliant on our ability to provide them at least a little bit of grant funding to make their projects work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A proper town needs a reliable sewer system. So tiny Corn, Oklahoma, has a big problem. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[42,444,427],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26086"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26113,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26086\/revisions\/26113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}