Governor Laura Kelly recently announced that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is awarding $10 million from the Small Town Water and Sewer Infrastructure Assistance (STWSIA) grant program to help 19 rural communities improve their water and wastewater services.

One of those communities is the city of Narka, located in Republic County. They have received $283,000 to replace an aerial truss collector pipe, located at the downstream end of the sanitary sewer collection system. The system leaks raw sewage.

Applicants had to meet several qualifications. For one, the community had to have a population of less than 1,000 people. They also had to have a regulatory compliance issue that the grant would help resolve.

Governor Kelly said these upgrades will ensure small towns are able to provide safe, clean water for their residents. KDHE will partner with the communities to implement the projects outlined in their applications.