Gov. Evers, DNR Announce $484 Million to Improve Wastewater Infrastructure for Wisconsinites in 82 Municipalities

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), today announced more than $484 million has been allocated for financial assistance through the Clean Water Fund Program to 82 Wisconsin municipalities across the state to improve wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. The funding will help municipalities, particularly small and disadvantaged communities, construct needed infrastructure projects, including those that reduce phosphorus discharges and address aging equipment.

“Ensuring every Wisconsinite has access to safe, clean drinking water has been a priority of mine since Day One, and thanks to programs like the Clean Water Fund, we’re able to support Wisconsin municipalities in their work to ensure our water infrastructure meets the needs of our kids, families, and neighborhoods,” said Gov. Evers. “By providing a reliable and stable way to ensure each municipality’s water infrastructure receives the upgrades it needs, we’re working to effectively address and prevent harmful contaminants so that every Wisconsinite can trust the water coming out of their tap.”

The Clean Water Fund Program provides affordable financial assistance to municipalities throughout Wisconsin for wastewater and water quality-related stormwater infrastructure projects that protect and improve public health and water quality for current and future generations. Since the program began in 1991, the DNR and the Wisconsin Department of Administration have provided over $6.5 billion in financial assistance to Wisconsin municipalities. Additional information about the Clean Water Fund Program can be found online here.

Through this round of funding, the DNR is allocating $438 million in subsidized loans and $46 million in principal forgiveness funding to support wastewater improvement projects. The Clean Water Fund Program subsidizes municipalities to buy down the market rate on program loans (low-interest rate loans). The principal forgiveness funding is comparable to a grant because the municipality will not have to repay those funds.

A full list of preliminarily approved projects by municipality for state FY26 is available here. Examples of preliminarily approved projects include:

Arkansaw Sanitary District #1 | $3,381,200
The Arkansaw Sanitary District #1, which serves just over 300 people in the town of Waterville, is receiving $3,381,200 in Clean Water Fund Program funding, including $2,366,840 of regionalization priority principal forgiveness, with the remainder serving as a loan with a subsidized interest rate. This funding will be used to construct a new lift station and force main to convey the wastewater to an existing wastewater treatment plant located in the village of Durand.

City of Portage | $55,489,110
The city of Portage is receiving $55,489,110 in Clean Water Fund Program funding, of which $2,100,000 is principal forgiveness, with the remainder provided to the city as a loan with a subsidized interest rate. The city will use the funding to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant for compliance with future, more stringent phosphorus limits, to replace aging equipment, and to add a biosolids drying system to produce Class A biosolids.

Brockway Sanitary District #1 | $511,570
The Brockway Sanitary District #1 is receiving $511,570 in Clean Water Fund Program funding, of which $306,942 is principal forgiveness. The remaining funding will be a loan with a subsidized interest rate. This funding will be used to replace a 50-year-old force main under Lincoln Street in the town of Brockway that has collapsed in several locations. The old asbestos-cement and cast-iron force main pipe will be replaced with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe.

The funds will be awarded to municipalities over the next year and disbursed as eligible costs are incurred. A portion of the funding comes from federal capitalization grants, including:

• Base Clean Water State Revolving Fund: $42,891,000;
• Supplemental Clean Water Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding: $66,599,000; and
• Emerging Contaminants (PFAS) Clean Water BIL funding: $8,276,000.

Since taking office in 2019, identifying and remediating contamination in ground, surface, and drinking water statewide has been a top priority for Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration. To continue building upon the governor’s work to ensure Wisconsin’s kids and families have clean, safe drinking water, the 2025-27 Biennial Budget increases borrowing for the state’s Environmental Improvement Fund by over $730 million to secure federal clean water and safe drinking water capitalization grants, including grants for the Clean Water Fund Program, over the next four years. This will help meet the increasing demand from local communities that need support to upgrade local water systems and infrastructure to ensure every Wisconsin kid, family, and community has clean, safe drinking water.

ADDITIONAL EVERS ADMINISTRATION EFFORTS TO ENSURE WISCONSINITES HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN, SAFE DRINKING WATER

In one of his first acts as governor, Gov. Evers declared 2019 the Year of Clean Drinking Water, and for the past seven years, the governor has prioritized efforts to invest in clean water infrastructure and ensure Wisconsinites have access to safe, clean water statewide. Gov. Evers declared 2025 the Year of the Kid in Wisconsin and announced several new efforts to address childhood lead poisoning and ensure clean drinking water for all, many of which were included in the 2025-27 bipartisan, pro-kid budget that the governor signed last July.

Gov. Evers also maintains that replacing lead service lines and ensuring Wisconsinites have access to clean and safe water is essential. Last year, Gov. Evers announced the Wisconsin Department of Health Services finalized a new rule, making permanent an emergency rule that the governor approved in January 2025, to combat lead poisoning statewide by lowering the lead poisoning threshold to 3.5 µg/dL. By lowering the lead poisoning threshold, more kids and families will be eligible for lead poisoning and intervention resources, including education programming, screening, care coordination or follow-up services for kids not covered by a third-party payer, and other activities related to poisoning or exposure.

In addition to increasing borrowing for the state’s Environmental Improvement Fund, the 2025-27 Biennial Budget signed by Gov. Evers provides:

• $2 million for the development of a remedial action plan for the remediation of arsenic-contaminated sediment in the Kewaunee Marsh;
• $4 million to be used for remedial action at the Amcast Superfund site;
• $6 million in bonding to be used for the Kenosha Dunes restoration project;
• $7.5 million for contaminated sediment removal from sites in the Great Lakes or its tributaries that are on Wisconsin’s impaired waters list to continue protecting this resource;
• $4 million for Urban Nonpoint Source cost-sharing and the Municipal Flood Control Program;
• $6.5 million to counties for capital projects that implement land and water resource management plans under the Targeted Runoff Management Program;
• $7 million for grants to counties for implementation of land and water resource management plans, including cost-share grants to landowners that install conservation practices on their land, such as erosion prevention strategies, through the Soil and Water Resource Management Program;
• $4 million for the repair, reconstruction, and removal of dams;
• Over $1.8 million over the biennium to update the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ systems and improve customer service for Wisconsinites; and
• More than $12 million to support county conservation staff around the state.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.