Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager announced Thursday the signing of an agreement that will make it easier to fund water quality improvement projects in rural Alaska villages. Tonsager says he expects the agreement to streamline efforts to provide clean water and improved sanitation services to the villages.
Tonsager said he’s seen first-hand the challenges facing residents of rural villages. He added the agreement is intended to quickly and effectively fund the village water quality projects that are ready to go.
This week, Alaska Rural Development State Director Jim Nordlund signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the Alaska Native Health Consortium that will streamline the current Rural Alaska Village Grant Program.
The program provides funding for planning, design and construction of water and wastewater infrastructure in rural communities in Alaska.
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APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
