Idaho DEQ awards Island Park $1.4 million for drinking water project

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality awarded a $1.4 million low-interest drinking water service line loan to the eastern Idaho city of Island Park, department officials announced Monday. 

City officials in Island Park will use the funding to inventory and replace lead service lines in the drinking water system, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said. 

According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, lead service lines that connect a home to the water main are typically the most significant source of lead in drinking water. Replacing lead service lines can reduce lead exposure, the agency said. 

The loan includes favorable terms that will save the city of Island Park and its taxpayers about $2.4 million compared to the average costs for municipal general obligation debt issuances, state officials said. 

The loan carries a 2.5% interest rate, a 30-year term and features principal forgiveness in the amount of $1,072,702. 

Funding for the loan comes from the federal Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act that Congress passed and former President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021.