Ronnie Hutchison, President of the board for Orangefield WSC, left and Joe Morton, General Manager of Orangefield WSC, display a check for a community assistance grant in the amount of $10,000. The check will be used to leverage local funds to replace water meters in its water distribution system.

The Sabine River Authority of Texas (SRA) was pleased to award Orangefield Water Supply Corporation (Orangefield WSC) a Community Assistance Grant in November 2015 as part of its FY-2016 Economic Development Initiative.

The $10,000 check will be used to leverage local funds to replace water meters in its water distribution system.

David Montagne, SRA’s Executive Vice-President and General Manager, in a letter to Orangefield WSC, wrote “Orangefield WSC’s project to implement water meters with automated water use readout service is an initiative that SRA supports in its efforts to improve water and wastewater systems throughout the basin” and “SRA looks forward to working with Orangefield WSC in the future as we continue to focus on increasing the economic vitality of the Sabine River Basin”

Funds provided for the Community Assistance Grant Program must fall within four project categories, which include 1) Water Supply; 2) Wastewater Management; 3) Water Conservation and 4) Water Quality and are limited to $10,000 per project.

Funds for the grant for Orangefield WSC were approved by SRA’s Board of Directors in October 2015.

In order to be eligible for the Community Assistance Program, applicants should be a governmental entity, district, or a non-profit, member-owned Water Supply Corporation or Sewer Service Corporation and located within the Sabine River Basin of Texas. Water resource projects should be consistent with the statutory mission of SRA. Created as a conservation and reclamation district in 1949, responsibilities of the Sabine River Authority of Texas are to control, store, preserve and distribute the waters of the Sabine River and its tributary system for useful purposes.

The Sabine River Basin covers a large portion of East Texas with a population of over 551,000 in all or part of 21 counties according to U.S. 2010 Census figures. A large portion of that area is rural in nature.

For more information about SRA’s Community Assistance Program, contact Mary Vann at (409) 746-2192 or email: [email protected].